Explore the life and work of Prague's literary icon through a curated collection of personal documents, publications and audiovisual installations. Franz Kafka, one of the most important figures in 20th century literature across the world, is the subject of this fascinating museum. It's set in the unique space of the Herget Brickworks on a square in the Lesser Town on the bank of Vltava River. The exhibition features many first editions of Kafka's works, correspondence, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, and drawings that have never been displayed before. The gallery of the Franz Kafka Museum exhibits the author's personal artifacts next to eerie representations of his ideas. Prague's famous son Franz Kafka was born in Prague in 1883 and was buried in the New Jewish Cemetery in Prague in 1924, making him one of the city's most important and famous residents of all time. The Franz Kafka Museum opened in the summer of 2005 and straddles the lines of fact and fiction, reality and fantasy, to illustrate how Kafka was affected by Prague, and in turn how the city was shaped by his writing about it. The schools, apartments, offices, and streets Kafka frequented appeared in his stories as allegories for various kinds of suffering. The much-hyped exhibition on the life and work of Prague's most famous literary son, entitled "City of K," explores the intimate relationship between the writer and the city that shaped him, through the use of original letters, photographs, quotations, period newspapers and publications, and video and sound installations.
An exhilarating exhibition
Divided into two parts, "Existential Space" and "Imaginary Topography," the museum follows the life of Kafka. Various mechanical statues illustrate the writer's strange, sometimes absurd ideas, such as David Černý's urinating fountain sculpture in the museum courtyard. The exhibit mimics the effects of Kafka's writing, haunting the visitor long after the experience is over. In the first section, "Existential Space," the museum looks at how the city affected Kafka and how it shaped his life, through his diaries and correspondence with family and friends. Join the author on his descent into the depths of his city, in a weird and wonderful distortion of space-time typical of Kafka's style. The second section "Imaginary Topography," explores how Kafka created the layers of his city in his fictional creations. With some exceptions, Kafka does not name the places he describes in his novels and short stories. However, it is possible to recognize some of the locations from his works. More importantly, the places he describes act as metaphors or allegories. A trip to this museum is a must for literary enthusiasts who will experience a compelling, disorienting and even disturbing experience in the heart of Prague.
