LENNON’S WALL IN PRAGUE
On 1 December 2020, the Twentieth Century Memorial Museum published the book Lennon’s Wall in Prague: studies, interviews, and documents. This is the second, substantially revised edition of the book on forty years of the famous Prague site, which includes studies, interviews, documents and an extensive pictorial supplement with many time-specific photographs by Lubomir Kotek, Karel Cudlín, Jiří Volk and other photographers.
The authors of the monograph, Petr Blažek, Filip Pospíšil and Roman Laube, examine not only the gradual transformation of Lennon’s Wall and the community around it, but also the previous tradition of inscriptions on the site. Since 1981, annual gatherings of Lennon’s fans have been held in and around Velkopřevorské náměstí on the anniversary of the British musician and peace activist’s death. Under the influence of police crackdowns, these gatherings gradually transformed into anti-regime demonstrations, with signing of petitions demanding the implementation of alternative civil service, withdrawal of Soviet troops from Czechoslovakia, release of political prisoners and abolition of nuclear weapons.
Some participants in these rallies became co-founders of opposition groups in late 1980s, such as the Independent Peace Association (IPA) – an initiative for the demilitarization of society or the John Lennon Peace Club (JLPC). The Lennon’s Wall also played a significant role after 1989, what has been described in this book for the first time. The commemoration of Lennon’s death has not only remained an activity of the adherents of subcultures, but reflected also contemporary disputes on the nature of society, its past and its future. The Lennon Wall also became a major tourist attraction, a commercial commodity and even an inspiration for protest movements on the other side of the globe.
The book Lennon’s Wall in Prague was published with the support of the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic.
The main distributor of Lennon’s Wall in Prague is Kosmas.cz.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA OF THE BOOK
Title: Lennon’s Wall in Prague: studies, interviews, documents
Authors: Blažek, Petr – Laube, Roman – Pospíšil, Filip
Publisher: Twentieth Century Memorial Museum
For further information you can contact the Museum.