František Kalivoda (1913–1971) in European Context: Multimediality, Experiment, Avant-Garde and Neo Avant-Garde

Provider and number: GAČR 19-18891S

Duration: 2019–2021

Recitient: Institute of Art History, CAS

Principal investigator: Markéta Svobodová

Research team: Markéta Svobodová, Jindřich Chatrný, Dagmar Černoušková, Marta Sylvestrová Lahodová, Simona Béréšová, Martin Mazanec

This grant project aims at publishing the work of František Kalivoda (1905–1971), an architect, designer, avant-garde figure and pioneer of abstraction, who influenced several disciplines and whose work has not been evaluated in terms of context. Kalivoda explored visual aspects of image (photography and film) both in theory and in practice; he had a significant impact on modern typography, promoting the work and ideas of Jan Tschichold, a typographer. At European level, he is known for working together with Hungarian avant-garde artist László Moholy-Nagy on Telehor: The International Review New Vision. Kalivoda was interested in abstraction and new technological possibilities of cinema, but at the same time, he was also aware of the power of social photography to bear witness and he supported CIAM and CIAM-Ost. His extensive correspondence provides an invaluable source to learn about the contacts he kept with artists from all around the world. The objective of the project is to publish an interdisciplinary Czech-English publication on the life and work of F. Kalivoda.

CEP