Region: 1960s-era Nostalgia Called into Question

The 1960s in Czechoslovakia are often remembered as an exciting time of progress, but a new Prague exhibition questions whether the filter of nostalgia and the events that came after have distorted such memories.

“Golden? Sixties, Memories and Reality” runs through May 15, 2011, at the National Museum’s branch at the Vítkov Memorial. It uses the well-known Bílá labuť department store as a platform for addressing the contradiction between memories and the reality of a tumultuous time when economic difficulties paired with a continued disenfranchisement of the communist regime.

“People write to us about how they enjoyed the time, and it seems like it really was the ‘Golden Sixties,’ ” said Míra Vandrovcová, one of the curators, referring to an accompanying feature on the exhibition’s website that allows members of the public to contribute their own memories. “On the other hand, there is also a number of those who do not see it in such bright and happy colors; people also remember how difficult it was to go abroad or how hard it was to get basic hygienic products…”

Read more at The Prague Post.