The online archive presents the estate of Ester Krumbachová (1923–1996), a crucial figure of the Czechoslovak New Wave, costume designer, screenwriter, director, and artist, who worked mainly for film and theatre. The archive has been created on the basis of research into the author's interdisciplinary body of work, unexamined until recent years, and unfolds continuously in connection with projects interpreting the estate. These include the publication Ester Krumbachová (2021) and exhibitions including Ester Krumbachová, House of Arts Brno (2021/22); A Weakness for Raisins: Films & Archive of Ester Krumbachová, CCA Glasgow (2018/19); Ester Krumbachová: Yeti – Wear the Amulet – Tangle Up the Archive, tranzitdisplay (2017/18); as well as a number of lectures and screenings held between 2018–2025 at the Ponrepo Cinema – NFA Prague, Glasgow Film Theatre, Metrograph NYC, BFI Southbank London, the Fashion in Film Festival, among others.
Through various of coincidences and non-coincidences, the curators of the Are organisation, a research team of students from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and other artists found themselves inside and around the estate of Ester Krumbachová, which had remained inaccessible despite numerous requests and attempts by her colleagues, friends and film historians since her death in 1996.
In the summer of 2016, artist and filmmaker Blaise Kirschner curated the exhibition 5 Uneasy Pieces, which included the collective research on Krumbachová, An Open Investigation, at UM Gallery – AAAD in Prague. Kirschner led us to become interested in Ester Krumbachová, an important and, as is typical in the Czech history of culture, overlooked woman who helped determine the form of Czechoslovak New Wave cinematography. Kirschner also initiated the letter to Ester Krumbachová’s last boyfriend, Ivo Paik, regarding our interest in information and materials about Ester Krumbachová. Mr. Paik found the letter stuck under the door of the apartment on Za Zelenou liškou Street where he had lived with Krumbachová, and called us the very next day. He and his girlfriend, artist Jarmila Košnářová, gradually gave us access to Krumbachová’s estate. In time, we agreed that the archive would be best kept in the care of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, where the estate was placed in 2022 after its digitisation was completed. RIP, Ivo and Jarmila.
Editors:
Zuzana Blochová, Habima Fuchs
ester@are-events.org
Research Fellows and Curators:
Edith Jeřábková, Francis McKee, Kateřina Svatoňová, Markéta Uhlířová
Design and Programming:
Tomáš Celizna
Texts:
Edith Jeřábková
Translation:
Guy Tabachnick
The project is carried out by Are (are-events.org) with the support of the European Union – Next Generation EU, the Czech Recovery Plan, and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic (2024–2025).
It was developed in collaboration between Are and the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, with the support of the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR), project no. 18-22139S. It was also supported by the City of Prague, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the State Fund of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts Prague, and the Arts and Theatre Institute.