EXPO 58

17 April – 19 November 1958, Brussels, Belgium

EXPO 58 had a large response and it represented a major contribution to the development of art in Czechoslovakia. The country’s participation was made possible by a certain liberalisation, which also created conditions for the implementation of artistic projects and at the same time foreshadowed a more widespread liberalisation in the entire country. The exhibition was allegedly visited by 42 million people and 52 countries participated in it. Six million visitors went through the Czechoslovak pavilion.

The exposition representing the Czechoslovak state and culture was designed by Jindřich Santar and other artists. It was precisely the Czechoslovak pavilion that was awarded the Gold Star, the main prize, as the best pavilion at the exhibition, owing to its use of new technologies, the possibility of disassembly and its exceptional interior. The main pavilion and the restaurant building were designed by architects František Cubr, Josef Hrubý and Zdeněk Pokorný. The main pavilion consisted of three mutually connected cubes, in which there were thematic expositions (relaxation and culture). The building’s basis was a skeleton made of steel pipes, with an abundant use of glass and plastic. The interior with its furniture and artworks was also highly acclaimed. The modern design of the kidney-shaped restaurant building was also recognised. The building appeared light and airy due to large glass surfaces and pillars.

Josef Svoboda’s and Alfréd Radok’s project Laterna magika attracted a lot of attention. Individual parts of the exposition were also awarded, e.g. the science fiction film The Deadly Invention (Vynález zkázy) by Karel Zeman and the sculpture Modern Era (Nový věk) by sculptor Vincenc Makovský, representing the allegory of the nuclear age (now installed in front of the main entrance to the complex of Brno Exhibition Centre and its cast is located in front of the new building of the National Museum). Czech jewellers led by Jan Nušl and photographer Jan Lukas were also recognised. As a reference to the Czechoslovak success at the exhibition, the term “Brussels style” was coined to refer to late modernist style of industrial art and design in Czech culture of the late 1950s and early 1960s.