Culture this week: Butterflies welcome spring at Prague's Botanical Garden

Heart of glass|Rony Plesl ranks among the world’s top artists in the field of glass sculpture. A new exhibit opening April 1 at Museum Kampa "The Trees Grow from the Sky" presents the eponymous installation featured at the prestigious contemporary art exhibition La Biennale di Venezia – Biennale Arte 2022, bringing it from Venice to the Czech public. The exhibit also concentrates on Plesl’s most recent work.

Černý art gallery|Czech sculptor David Černý is opening a new art gallery on April 1 in Prague’s Smíchov district in the historical part of a former distillery. The five-story building will feature a permanent exhibition of Černý’s work plus one room for guest artists. The name of the new gallery, Musoleum, is a pun, mixing the words “museum” and “mausoleum.”

Baroque marvel|The Baroque library in Prague’s Klementinum is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. People will now be able to see inside it and other historical spaces when Prague City Tourism launches a new route on April 1. Read more in our article.

Lego workshop|An all-day Easter Lego workshop will take place at Prague 3 cultural center Kiddum on April 6. Children can be dropped off from 8:00 a.m. and picked up by 5:00 p.m., and no previous experience with Lego is needed to participate.

Butterflies welcome spring|The Butterfly exhibition in the Fata Morgana greenhouse begins this week. Over 5,000 pupae from the butterfly farm in Stratford upon Avon transform in Prague every year. The exhibit takes place at the Prague Botanical Garden from April 7 to May 21.

Dreamy indie-folk|Czech band teepee will perform at Vzlet on April 3. Centered around the couple Tereza Lavička-Sladká and Miroslav Patočka, the group has performed all over Europe, including at the prestigious festivals Eurosonic Noorderslag, Enea Spring Break, Waves Vienna or Reeperbahn Festival. Czech singer-songwriter Týna will open the concert.

Immersive audiovisual experience|The band Jerusalem In My Heart and the performer VÍZ are at Meet Factory on April 6. The project of Lebanese-Canadian musician Radwan Ghazi Moumneh and Montreal-based filmmaker Erin Weisgerber merges experimental Levantine-Arabic music with handmade visuals for modern takes on social, cultural, and political issues.

Czech alternative/indie|Czech bands Purplefox Town + Ida The Young are playing at Kasárna Karlín on April 6. Purplefox Town's love for '60s music is easy to hear in their psychedelic sounds, which also include modern references. Ida The Young, on the other hand, counts Weyes Blood, Elliot Smith, and Father John Misty among its influences.

Guitar god| The world-famous guitar virtuoso, Joe Satriani's newly rescheduled European tour has its Prague date on April 7 at Congress Centrum. Satriani is touring in support of his new album, The Elephants of Mars.

Easter music|From Dvořák to Mozart spring classical music is a Prague Easter tradition. A round up of Easter concerts, which begin on Friday, April 7, can be found here.

Next one's on you|Danish Oscar winner Another Round is at Edison Film Hub on April 3 (with English subtitles). Watch iconic Mads Mikkelsen play the role of a teacher who, together with his group of friends and colleagues, discovers that life is more enjoyable with a certain blood alcohol level, at least up a point. What could possibly go wrong?

Czech masterpiece|As part of its Made in Czechoslovakia series, Kino Lucerna will screen Daisies (Sedmikrásy, with English subtitles) on April 4. Director Věra Chytilová's experimental film, which is considered one of the best of the Czechoslovak New Wave, deals with morality, conformity, and personal freedom in the context of social constraints.

Compelling artist|The Nick Cave-centered documentary 20,000 Days on Earth screens at Bio Oko on April 5. Watch the artist, musician, and writer go through 24 hours of his day, talk about life, creativity, and midlife crisis, all in the company of a motley crew of famous people ranging from Kylie Minogue to Alain de Botton, and Blixa Bargeld.

Sex and drugs and wheelchairs| Inspired by the 2006 Norwegian black comedy film with the same title, The Art of Negative Thinking plays on April 3 at Švandovo divadlo na Smíchově (with English supertitles). A noteworthy quote from the play: "But you must have experienced something nice lately we can talk about, haven't you? Lately I've been paralyzed and impotent. So no, I don't think I have experienced anything nice."

Flight of fancy|See the Losers Cirque perform their dance-acrobatic show Air at Divadlo Bravo on April 3 and 4. The inspiration for the show is U.S. writer Richard Bach's book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," which tells the story of a seagull that set out on a quest to overcome its limits and became an inspirational figure for others in the process.

Contemporary circus|Time and our daily sprint through life are the themes of Cirk La Putyka's Runners, which is at Jatka78 on April 4. The unique set design, consisting of a huge treadmill made to measure in the UK, sets the pace of the show, which depicts the hectic pace of life via physical theatre and contemporary circus. The production is in English.

Roma celebrations|Events celebrating International Roma Day will take place at Divadlo Archa and ARA ART in Prague from April 5 through April 8. Events include both musical and artistic performances; International Roma Day has been observed since 1971.