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The book “Prkýnka na maso jsme uřízli” (“We Cut the Chopping Boards”) was awarded “The most beautiful Czech book of 2013” title in a competition organised by the Museum of Czech Literature in the “Fine art books, pictorial and photographic publications” category. The 49th competition was entered by 250 books of 104 publishers. The panel awarded three publications in each of the six categories, with the first places being awarded the Czech Ministry of Culture Prize and “The most beautiful Czech book of 2013” title.
“Prkýnka na maso jsme uřízli” by Martina Overstreet and Michal Nanoru deals with the beginning of Czechoslovakian skateboarding, covering the period from the 1970’s to 1990. The book is based on interviews with 26 people who experienced skateboarding in the mentioned time and now recall e.g. when they heard about a skateboard for the first time, how their friends smuggled skateboard magazines from the West for them, how they learned to ride or how they made their first boards. Eleven thematic chapters give an insight into the way of information spread to the local enthusiasts at the time, their first attempts with the techniques, alcohol and shorts made from table cloths as well as white “Spartakiad” canvas shoes dyed in dumpling pots. The text is completed by dozens of period photos. The book “We cut the chopping boards” was published by the Yinachi studio in September 2013.
“The book was published within our long-run project BU2R, which has been supporting the original urban cultural production. It is a fantastic reward, also taking into consideration that four out of five books published with the support of BU2R managed to get among the most beautiful Czech books,” says Budweiser Budvar’s marketing department manager Jana Kubištová. In the past, the awards were granted to the publications “Zde jsou psi” (“There are dogs here”, 2010, 2nd place), “Kmeny” (“Tribes”, 2011, 2nd place) and “Město – medium” (“Town = Medium”, 2012, 1st place).
About BU2R project
BU2Ris an original project of the Budweiser Budvar brand, which has been supporting the original cultural urban production since 2007. Following it and reflecting on it, BU2R concentrates on the urban culture, particularly the original production across various generations of artists that has not been carried out in the Czech Republic so far. The Budweiser Budvar brand appreciates an original approach, standing behind those who prefer the path of originality, have a vision and a clear objective and want to come up with something really new and original. BU2R wishes to be the connecting element between the original idea and its realization, as well as between creators, artists, bands or art associations, and wants to support their visions. The main objective of BU2R is to provide a production background that will help authors to carry out their original projects. More information can be found at www.bu2r.cz
Selected BU2R projects
2007 - KIDS ON THE CLICK
The very first BU2R project was the production of a Czech hip-hop DVD with the legends Indy and Wich + La4. The documentary covering their summer concert tour and directed by a well-known author of many successful videos Michal Dvořák (PSH, Kontrafakt, Nironic etc.) came out on a DVD under the title of “Kids on the Click”. Through a “road story”, we could experience several summer festivals with the band, including some interviews and details from the backstage.
2008 - 20ERS
The musical compilation 20ERS again concerns the Czechoslovak hip-hop scene. It is a unique double CD and a video about making this special edition. The first CD contains authorial and exclusive pieces focused on genre overlapping and entertainment, as can be heard in pieces of the “Pio Squad” with Jarek Nohavica, Vladimir 518 and Matěj Ruppert, Indy and Clou or “Moja Reč” with Marián Čekovský. The second “old school” CD features fundamental historical songs that were influential to the Czechoslovak scene. The origination of the compilation was recorded on a video documentary that shows details from the studio sessions and recordings with individual artists including some interviews.
2009 - Czech Original Fashion
The main objective of the project “Czech Original Fashion” was to make the Czech fashion scene visible and connect it to the people who are very fond of fashion. Within BU2R, the first photography book was published in the Czech Republic that shows fashion and dressing styles in Czech towns. The photo report from the street is completed with the presentation of works from 28 of the most talented young Czech designers.
2010 – Zde jsou psi (There are dogs here)
This is a unique publication about a visual culture of the Czech club scene, which was compiled as evidence of our age by Michal Nanoru and Martina Overstreet. The texts by twenty authors were completed with photos by Adam Holý and Dušan Tománek. The graphic layout was carried out by Adam Macháček, Petr Bosák and Robert Jansa. The quality of the publication was also recognised by the Museum of Czech Literature panel, which awarded the book a 2ndprize in “The most beautiful book of 2010” competition.
2010 - Acuo
The interactive installation ACUO on the Prague’s Republic Square represents a technological experiment that connects the audiovisual art and architecture. The artistic team lead by Michal Šeba created a three-tipped polygon fitted with microphones and cameras. Inside of the object, the visitor could experience an unusual projection transmitted from the external environment through the speakers and a large LED projection, which covers all the interior walls of the object. The object was designed by Vítězslav Danda and his colleagues from the “Edit!” architectural studio. The sound technologies were provided by Michal Šeba and Stanislav Abrahám, a student at the FAMU Centre for audiovisual studies and a sound technologies lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. The LED system was carried out as a site-specific project by Michal Pustějovský, a student at the New Media Atelier at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. The jacket surface was designed by the fashion designers.
2011 – Kmeny (Tribes)
In December 2011,a publication about current Czech subcultures was published in cooperation with the Bigg Boss Publisher’s. The book originated under the supervision of Vladimír 518, who presented in photos and texts the current image of Prague communities ranging from hip hop, hardcore, gothic and neo-hippies up to motorcyclists, fans of tuning and Japanese pop culture favourers. Their visual and life style is monitored by more than three hundred coloured photos by the photographer Tomáš Souček. The “Kmeny” won a 2nd prize in “The most beautiful book of 2011” competition.
2012 – Město = medium (Town = Medium)
The cooperation with the Bigg Boss Publisher’s and the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague resulted in a book about the relationship of the light and the town, which was published in November 2012. Besides the phenomenon of city neon lights, the publication follows the story of the light in art from the beginning of the 20th century to this day, thus making the book “a meeting place” for Zdeněk Pešánek, Stanislav Zippe, Václav Cigler, Magdalena Jetelová and Krištof Kintera as well as the youngest generation of creators, who often border on guerrilla and artistic activism. Authored by Vladimir 518, Jan Matoušek and Markéta Vinglerová, the book won a 1st prize in “The most beautiful book of 2012” competition.
2012 - Acuo Urban Symphony
Acuo Urban Symphony is a follow-up to the interactive installation from 2010. Using the audio technology from the Acuo object, Michal Šeba and Stanislav Abraham recorded the noises of twelve different places around the Czech Republic ranging from “Vřídlo” spring in Karlovy Vary and Prague’s island of “Štvanice” in the Vltava River up to steel works in Prostějov. The noises of these places were provided to the leading musicians of the Czech alternative scene, so that they could create tracks for the compilation “ACUO Urban Symphony”. The compilation aimed to chart the urban environment of the Czech Republic music-wise and to pay tribute to our towns similar to the way Bedřich Smetana complimented the Vltava River. The pieces can be heard online at acuo.cz
2013 – Prkýnka na maso jsme uřízli (We Cut the Chopping Boards)
The book “Prkýnka na maso jsme uřízli” subtitled “Old Testament of Czech Skateboarding” is the latest book by the authors Martina Overstreet and Michal Nanoru. The book depicts the origination and development of the skating community in Czechoslovakia through the statements of the very first skateboarders. The graphic layout was carried out by Adam Macháček, Petr Bosák and Robert Jansa.
2013 – Kmeny 0 (Tribes 0)
The book “KMENY 0” is a follow-up to the successful book project “KMENY” that was published within the BU2R urban projects in 2011 by the Bigg Boss and Yinachi Publisher’s. The zero is included in the title because of the span of this new volume. With its main focus between 1969 and the 1989 revolution, the book observes Czech urban subcultures and independent social streams, similarly to the first “KMENY”. “As far as its formal aspect is concerned, the book underwent some cardinal changes of the pictures. As opposed to the first volume, we had to give up the connecting and protecting element in the form of images from only one photographer, entering instead a world of a different but similarly strong form - a historic collage exploiting the beauty of home archives as well as some sophisticated images from established authors. The book thus joins the high and the low and coarseness with finesse,” adds the project’s author Vladimir 518.
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