Czech documentary photographer Jiří Doležel will present his Czechs in America – Exile/Emigration 1948 exhibition focused around photographs and interviews with the representatives of Czechoslovak exile in the USA, which record the life experiences of those who had been forced by circumstances to leave the country of their origin seeking freedom and safety in the USA.

Jiří Doležel is the chairman of the Memory Traces Association and the author of the Memory Traces project. He graduated from the Institute of Creative Photography, Silesian University of Opava, Department of Photography. His main focus is on documentary, theatre and portrait photography. He has presented over a hundred exhibitions, published several photographic books and holds numerous awards including several Czech Press Photo Awards. Currently he has been studying a PhD program focused on Cultural Anthropology at Palacky University Olomouc and Documentary Directing at FAMO in Písek.

Memory Traces Memory Traces is a non-profit association of journalists and historians who, since 2008, have been collecting memories of critics and victims of both the Nazi and communist totalitarian regimes in Central Moravia. Audio-visual recordings of the testimonies of witnesses are accompanied by contemporary photographs of each individual in his/her home. The respondents include World War II witnesses and victims of 1950s’ communist persecution.

Reception and presentation by Jiří Doležel

Cost: Free