A Citizen of Nowhere. Jaroslav Černý, Egyptologist

Jaroslav Černý was a transnational individual, with a portfolio career in Egyptology, art collecting and diplomacy; he lived with precarity, and also a certain degree of privilege, especially in the last two decades of his life. What is less known is his personal research project which did not always overlap with the institutional needs, or disciplinary priorities as formulated in his day, or with other research teamwork in which he participated. The 'hidden project' was the settlement of New Kingdom artists and craftspeople in Deir el Medina, from 1922, and still unfinished in May 1970. It was a daring project with an implicit interest in anthropology and social history. His life was closely intertwined the history of the 20^th century.

When history of a discipline is articulated in context of modernity, it is often with a critical voice concerned 1. with paradigms of research embedded in an intellectual milieu and 2. with structures of power. What we question less often, is how it must have been to live through that time of profound change, technological, intellectual change, and yet filled with disaster.

The lecture will be held in English.
Lecturer: Hana Navrátilová

Entrance fee: 70 CZK
Tickets can be purchased on-line or at the museum box office.