1960s-era nostalgia called into question

The 1960s in Czechoslovakia are often remembered as an exciting time of progress, but a new Prague exhibition questions whether the filter of nostalgia and the events that came after have distorted such memories.

"Golden? Sixties, Memories and Reality" runs through May 15, 2011, at the National Museum's branch at the Vítkov Memorial. It uses the well-known Bílá labuť department store as a platform for addressing the contradiction between memories and the reality of a tumultuous time when economic difficulties paired with a continued disenfranchisement of the communist regime.

"People write to us about how they enjoyed the time, and it seems like it really was the 'Golden Sixties,' " said Míra Vandrovcová, one of the curators, referring to an accompanying feature on the exhibition's website that allows members of the public to contribute their own memories. "On the other hand, there is also a number of those who do not see it in such bright and happy colors; people also remember how difficult it was to go abroad or how hard it was to get basic hygienic products."

A display shows goods set up as they were in the 1960s-era Bílá labuť, a shop known then and now for its gaudy lighting and swan logo. The display is designed to remind visitors what consumer goods were like at the time - for better or worse - including rows of generic canned processed food, clothing and appliances once considered cutting edge.

Information about the prices of those goods and how they measured up to salaries in those years is also on display, along with audiovisual presentations, photographs, statistics and samples of newspapers and magazines from the time. While Western-style consumer goods were still largely unavailable during the 1960s, a thaw in restrictions on cultural freedom allowed elements of European and American pop culture to penetrate the country's borders, shaping public attitudes.

"Consumer society has definitely played an important role. In a way, it replaced the old ideology of the brave future world of communism," said Oldřich Tůma, director of the Institute for Contemporary History in Prague. "Instead of waiting for paradise on Earth after communism was built, there was a focus on the supply of pleasure."

The exhibition was immediately preceded by another called "Beatlemania," which catalogued the careers of the iconic English foursome, also illustrating the disparity between glamorous memories and reality.

'Island of freedom'

In the works are a number of other events to follow up on the 1960s exhibition, including a concert, lecture series, fashion show and a vintage car show, as well as a program in which schoolchildren will be assigned to collect oral histories from their grandparents.

The 1960s were a time of radical change throughout the world. In Czechoslovakia, a time of relative cultural freedom emerged before the August 1968 invasion by Warsaw Pact troops, according to Tůma.

The so-called Prague Spring started in January 1968, when the head of the Slovak Communist Party, Alexander Dubček, took power and started making reforms in an attempt to develop "socialism with a human face." Dubček liberalized the media and public speech, and went forward with minor market reforms that boosted trade and improved the economy.

The reforms alarmed officials in the Soviet Union, and on Aug. 20 and 21, armies from the Warsaw Pact countries invaded Czechoslovakia. In the following years, most of Dubček's reforms were reversed, but the seed he planted created an atmosphere of public opposition to the repression and inspired protests like that of Jan Palach, the student who in 1969 set himself on fire on Wenceslas Square.

"Things were changing a bit for the better, and the island of freedom grew larger and larger, but it was still a communist regime, and some people were still in prison and being arrested," Tůma said. "Those who experienced Prague Spring ... look on that time with certain emotions and sentiments, because we were 18, and it was much better, but I really do think the spirit of the time between '62 and '68 were that things were moving somewhere and improving."

- Filip Šenk contributed to this report.

Cat Contiguglia can be reached at
ccontiguglia@praguepost.com