Exhibit explores underground work in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia

Curator Daniela Sneppova's favorite item in the newest exhibit at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library is a tiny book with minuscule typeface. A magnifying strip hidden in the spine makes the text legible.It was a necessary artifice - anyone caught reading it could have faced harassment or even jail. ◄

The publication is part of a trove of illegal publications that flourished under the authority's noses in Soviet-occupied Czechoslovakia.

The exhibit, Samizdat: The Czech Art of Resistance, 1968-1989, includes books, zines, music and other art produced in defiance of the ruling regime. It will be on display through April 1, 2016.

Culture of control

Literally meaning 'self-published,” samizdat is a Russian term referring to underground publications created despite government efforts to strictly control arts and culture.

Artists, musicians and writers could only operate in the open with government approval. To get approval, musicians had to pass tests showing they agreed with official ideology, and art had to follow certain guidelines.

Works didn't have to be political to be banned. Even the length of hair was controlled - no long-haired musicians allowed in 1970s Prague.

'Basically, anyone who had a desire to create something of their own that wasn't officially recognized as an artist could not exhibit their work, play in bands or become a published writer,” said exhibit curator Daniela Sneppova.

But even the toughest restrictions couldn't crush the drive for creativity and self-expression.

'When you completely evacuate the creative sphere of intelliginista and creative people - that energy has to go somewhere. It doesn't disappear just because the government wants it to,” she said. 'They went underground, where they weren't controlled.”

clandestine creations

Books and articles would be typed on carbon paper, each copy passed from person to person. Some were disguised - one book in the exhibit was designed to look like a school notebook. Another manuscript was preserved on photo paper, tucked inside a nondescript film box.

With a shortage of binding materials, publishers used sandpaper, pipe insulation and wallpaper as book covers - anything they could get their hands on.

Actors and musicians also got creative to present their work. Bands such as the Plastic People of the Universe made their own instruments - only officially approved musicians had access to new equipment. Sometimes bands would have 'weddings” so they could book halls and perform. People's living rooms became venues for theater and for classes by scholars who were no longer allowed to teach.

The exhibit includes a listening station with bootleg music, as well as video projections of underground experimental films and footage of apartment theater and secret concerts.

In another part of the exhibit, a home office is set up with a red typewriter used to produce samizdat. On the wall above the desk are 'family photos” that actually are surveillance photos of artists and activists taken by the secret police.

At times, the secret police would stand outside known artist's apartments, taking names of everyone who went inside.

'Anyone who published materials or presented publicly was a target. Basically, it was a culture of fear,” Sneppova said. 'The realization I had was the amount of courage it takes just to make something somehow helps you overcome the fear. I think of all these things as small acts of resistance, even if they were not taking an official stand against the regime.”

Focus on human rights

Sneppova first organized the exhibit in New York City in 2011 and in 2012 at the Czech embassy in Washington, D.C. Pieces are on loan from the Libri Prohibiti Archive, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, all in Prague, as well as Sneppova's colleague Tomas Vrba.

The exhibit is part of a new focus at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library on human rights, part of a recently revamped strategic plan.

'We have always addressed human rights issues. As we began to re-invision what the museum could become after the flood, we started to see that as something that is a strength of ours,” said museum chief operating officer Leah Wilson.

The Samizdat exhibit fit perfectly with that theme, she said.

A related talk Monday by author Michael Zantovsky will examine former Czechoslovakia President Vaclav Havel's life. A writer whose plays were banned, Havel himself was a samizdat creator who was imprisoned several times. He helped create Charter 77, a samizdat document that pushed for democratic change, before becoming the country's first democratically elected president in 41 years.

'I think it's just about human spirit against all odds,” Sneppova said. 'Four weeks before becoming the prime candidate to rule Czechoslovakia, Havel was sitting in prison. It was people working to just have a space for free expression ... as Havel put it, ‘The ability to live in truth.' I think the human spirit is exhibited in these small acts.”

If you go

What: 'Havel: A Life” - An evening with author Michael Zantovsky

When: 7 p.m. Monday

Where: National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, 1400 Inspiration Place SW, Cedar Rapids

RSVP required: www.ncsml.org