Alternative Culture As Part Of Genius Regionis

Abstract

A qualitative case study explores the interconnection of the natural and cultural uniqueness of the selected Podkrkonoší region in the Czech Republic. An alternative culture is shown as part of genius regionis and emphasizes its importance in the context of the development of post-Communist society. The study describes it as a phenomenon ideologically connected to the underground before 1989 and with alternative culture and the local sandstone subsoil. The methods include a review of available relevant literature in the acknowledged databases such as Web of Science or Scopus and Internet sources, observations, informal and unstructured interviews conducted in the period between 2011 and September 2017. The findings show that the art itself combines alternative oriented personalities, and the local artistic spirit can act as a magnet for the inhabitants of other regions.

Introduction

The authors of this qualitative case study point to the phenomenon of alternative culture in the (sub)region of Podkrkonoší (the foothills of the Krkonoše Mountains, the highest mountains in the Czech Republic) with overlapping to neighboring regions. In the studied area, from the geopolitical point of view of the small post-Communist state in Central Europe, a specific cultural alternative to the current mainstream culture, which is a part of the local genius regionis, has been identified and its specificity is mainly connected to the sandstone and following the value base of the underground before 1989. The alternative culture following the anti-Communist underground is more interesting nowadays. Some Czech philosophers (Bělohradský et al. 2010) speak of the onset of the so-called neo-normalization, which is manifested, among other things, by increasing state control of cultural and social life and resistance to the so-called non-adaptive minorities and migrants.

This was characteristic of the period of the so-called normalization (from the 1970s to the 1980s after the political release in the period of the Prague Spring which ended with the occupation of Czechoslovakia). The so-called neo-normalization is reflected, for example, in the field of cultural events by the preference of authorized artists from the period of the Communist regime, the so-called "normalizing stars" in the spirit of "ostalgia" (Cooke 2003). In the political field, then, the generations' rise to standardization of the elite students (e. g. the current Prime Minister of the Czech Government is registered in the Slovak Republic as a former Communist state security agent) and the use of the standardization language. Alternative culture can be understood as a dynamic concept, embracing one or more subcultural styles, with a historical and spatial context (center x periphery, with different levels of economic and (sub)cultural capital). Although there is a consensus that alternative culture is culture outside of the mainstream, it must be remembered that it may sooner or later be absorbed by the mainstream (Heath & Potter 2005; Rozsak 2015).

This was done with the contra culture of the 1960s in the subsequent period of "culture of narcissism" (Lasch 1991), "bobos" (Brooks 2001) and the commodification of cultural authenticity in response to the process of McDonaldisation (Ritzer 2014). The subject of commodification and "sacrifice" of the tourism industry today is not only authentic cultural "products", but also places and regions themselves (Su 2011).

In this study, alternative culture forms a contrast against popular culture. Furthermore, the study of local culture in a local/regional context can be considered as an important part of the effort to understand social phenomena and processes that affect the level of social cohesion, cultural openness and the potential of local development. Identification of genius regionis should be an important part of destination marketing in tourism, but also identity formation of local people. Genius regionis, a concept based on the genius loci extension, contains many subjective, difficult to measure factors. Therefore, there is little literature that deals with it, and the term genius loci is more familiar in terms of architecture and art (Norberg-Schultz 1980). The term of genius regionis itself is not given much attention in the literature. The Czech geographer Jaroslav Vencálek can be described as the pioneer of its conceptualization: “Genius regionis expresses the effect of a large number of extraordinary features and meanings that characterize the region, these characteristics and meanings being completely unrepeatable in the region. " (Vencálek 1998, p. 123) The author also states (ibid): "If we are to approach our understanding of genius regionis [. . . ], we must try to understand, in addition to expressing the essence of those peculiarities, how these peculiarities and significance function in the landscape. " Genius loci and genius regionis are, in his view, very subjective, but they can be talked about by identifying the extraordinary characteristics of a given place/ region. The study thus shows a unique interconnection of one of the natural features of the region (sandstone subsoil) with the local alternative culture, which is part of the genius regionis of the Podkrkonoší region in the Czech Republic.

Methods

The methods include a review of available relevant literature in the acknowledged databases such as Web of Science or Scopus and Internet sources, observations, informal and unstructured interviews conducted in the period between 2011 and September 2017. The interviews were done with 21 people who were actively involved in organizing alternative cultural events in the region. They all ran them in their free time and (according to their words) without the effort of financial enrichment. They were predominantly people with secondary, artistic, education, aged 30-58. The observation were performed by the authors by attending several cultural events during the year (on average 10 events per year).

The boundaries of the area blend with the boundaries of the cadastral territories of municipalities involved in an association, but not allsmaller municipalities do so. At the same time, there are relations with neighboring regions (short-term commuting for work, culture, education. . . ). The strongest connections (one-day commuting for work, education, culture. . . ), given by the transport infrastructure, are located 20 km away from the center of the region, with the regional capital of Hradec Králové (92,900 inhabitants as of January 1, 2017) and the district town Jičín (16,000 inhabitants) (Czech Statistical Office 2017). Jičín is a political-administrative center and the capital of the Bohemian Paradise tourist region, which is famous for its sandstone rock towns (UNESCO Geopark) and sandstone subsoil connected with the monitored Podkrkonoší region.

The specific peculiarity and historical significance of the region is the interconnection of the sandstone subsoil with the local economy, culture, and art. It is not only the use of natural resources in the stone industry (for example, the export of sandstone treated or its use in local construction, as reflected, for example, in the sandstone basement of older houses) but in its artistic processing. In the region itself and its immediate vicinity, at least five major real estate (sandstone) cultural monuments can be found. The first one is the Baroque Hospital Kuks (beginning of the 18th century) with sculptures of the most significant sculptor of the Czech Baroque - Matyáš Bernard Braun (1684-1738). Another is the Baroque Walenstein lodge in Jičín (17th century), the reservoir with sandstone dam Les Království (technical monument and one of the oldest Czech dams from the beginning of the 20th century) and in Hořice the monumental Neo - Renaissance cemetery portal (beginning of the 19th century) and the Neo-Gothic Town Hall (end of the 19th century). Connection of art and stone seems to be partly reflected in the work of local natives. These include Karel Zeman (1910-1989), whose film The Road to Prehistory (1955) received international recognition.

A significant Czech writer of children's literature on the subject of Stone Age, Eduard Štorch (1878-1956) was born in the region. In Dvůr Králové nad Labem there is a permanent exhibition of paintings by Zdeněk Burian (1905-1981), who was the most prominent Czech painter of prehistoric motifs and books that were also published abroad. The local sandstone is the cause of the fact that there are dozens of abandoned quarries in the region. In Hořice in Podkrkonoší, the Secondary School of Stonemasonry and Sculpture was founded in 1884. It was first of its kind in Austria-Hungary (Tomíčková 2011) and is currently the only one of its kind in the Czech Republic. Among its graduates there were significant Czech artists, such as Jan Štursa (1880-1925) recognized abroad. The town since 1966 has organized in the abandoned quarry of St. Joseph an international meeting of sculptors, the so-called Sculpture Symposium (Biennial), whose helpers now include people from the organizers of other "alternative" events. After the Velvet Revolution, the school graduates are, in most cases, the organizers of alternative cultural events. An important regional specificity is also the local tradition of growing fruit trees.

This is evidenced by the existence of the Research Institute of Breeding and Fruit Production in Holovousy and the Holovousy raspberry apple ceremony (e. g. a contest for the best apple dessert). Destination marketing itself characterizes the area as a landscape of fruit and stone. The extraordinary features and meanings of the region, the so-called genius regionis, consist of the existence of a sandstone subsoil previously connected with the local industry and today with culture and art. According to the authors' information, as well as in the interviews, there is no high frequency of alternative cultural events in any other region of the Czech Republic (except for large cities over 100,000 inhabitants) and not even connected directly with stone / sandstone.

Alternative culture and genius regionisFrom the point of view of external expressions, in the Podkrkonoší region, the most obvious alternative culture can be seen as a mix of reggae, hippies, new age and, to a lesser extent, punk. In addition to the music, the genres of reggae, ska, big beat, psychedelic rock, punk, world music, gypsy jazz and funky are based on fine arts (especially sculpture). Ideologically and partly personally, it continues the contra culture of the 1960s and the pre-revolutionary underground, which is reflected mainly in the principles of functioning, organization, cultural actions, values, but also in the personal connection to it. From the interviews and available materials, direct underground connection was not recorded in the Secondary Scholl of Stonemasonry and Sculpture school in the 1970s. In the 1980s, however, punk fans appeared at school, especially around its graduate Štěpán Málek, today's frontman of the nationally significant punk band. In the 80's, the founder of the nation-famous punk band Support Lesbiens also studied at this school. Prior to 1989, according to the interviewees, alternative culture was mainly held in private flats, leased by students of the school who did not want to live in a dormitory.

After 1989, graduates of the school participated in the organization of alternative cultural events. The pre-revolutionary underground is today connected with four major figures of the local culture. One of them is a local native, a participant in pre-revolutionary illegal actions and a publisher of the then underground magazine Sklepník. Another two came from the neighboring region Bohemian Paradise (renowned with sandstone rock towns) after 1989 and built a tea and oriental goods store in Hořice. The father of these men was a political prisoner and their uncle was a respected artist. The elder brother of the brothers organized an illegal underground jam session (with the attendance of several dozen people and neighboring regions) in one of the caves of the sandstone rock town of Bohemian Paradise in the 1980s. The second brother became a co-founder and sponsor of the Cultural Reggae Vibez, fourteen film festivals (from 1998 to 2012) and an eight-year (2006-2014) irregular summer tea room in the city park with rock, punk, jazz, oriental and classical music concerts, or theater and film performances.

There is a certain similarity with the situation before 1989. Similarly, as the majority of the society closed in its living rooms and second homes (cottages or weekend houses), the regime's opponents closed into subcultural communities. As Václav Havel (Vaněk 2010) stated: In no other Communist country, music, literature, film, or art, except in the late 1960s, were suppressed as in our country. [. . . ] Still, there were musicians who, despite persecution, went patiently for their purpose, which was surprisingly nothing more than to freely play and sing what they liked. The most significant manifestation of the alternative against the current mainstream culture is the 16-year-old Cultural Reggae Vibez Music Festival in the abandoned sandstone quarry of St. Joseph, with a visit of about 2,000 people. Though it began as a small musical event, artists from the genre of reggae, ska and world music from around the world perform there today (Jamaica, France, Great Britain, Morocco. . . ). For the years of 1995 until 2014, the Big Beat and Punk Festival Garden Festival was held at the quarry, the main organizer of which is one of the members of the pre-revolutionary underground movement. Already since 1969 (with the regime influenced interruptions) in Hořice in Podkrkonoší, there is also the so-called Welcoming of Spring, connected with the landscape parade and evening music program (big beat, rock, punk. . . ). Its current main organizer is the representative of the local pre-revolutionary underground movement along with one of the reggae festival organizers. By September 2017, 21 graduate students of the school had already had 21, the so-called musical stories (3-4 times a year) in local pubs, which can be genuinely written especially for big beats, psychedelic, punk or reggae. From 1998 to 2012, fourteen film festivals took place in the city. All these events were co-organized and attended by the graduates of the stonemasonry and sculpture school. Relationship to place/region, working with spaceThe fundamental specificity of the monitored events of alternative culture is the creative use of space, which is still not used in artistic terms, and its overall character is emphasized.

The interviewees have a strong relationship to a place and a region, especially through participating in local cultural events even if they live far or away from it temporarily or for a long time. Some of them moved permanently to the region after their studies at the local Secondary School of Stonemasonry and Sculpture. The "Podkrkonoší" region means for them a picturesque foothill landscape, sandstone, associated stone-carvings and an alternative culture that forms part of their regional identity and whose appearance and frequency of events are not similar to other smaller towns in the Czech Republic. The potential of the region/place is used for organizing cultural events. In Hořice alone, the use of the mentioned, in the forest abandoned, sandstone quarry, fascinates visitors and musicians of the reggae festival. The organizers doubt that the festival could be held elsewhere in order to preserve its uniqueness. In the same quarry, also the international sculpture symposium and the Garden Festival are held every year. In addition to the Wallenstein loggia, where the space is adapted to the needs of the program and it itself becomes a theater scene, it is necessary to mention the Baroque monument Hospital Kuks, which is connected with the phenomenon of the so-called 17th and 18th Baroque landscapes century. The area was used in 2016 and 2017 to organize theater and musical performances, including the "offer" of a certain spiritual overlap in connection with the so-called spirituality of New Age (e. g. tea rooms, sales of blowers and esoteric literature). Some cultural events were held on private land, respectively, in the gardens of family houses, similar to what happened in the pre-revolutionary underground. In the garden, courtyard and in the barn of the family house (old farmhouse), a small Majdafest festival has been held since 2016.

Conclusion

Genius regionis of the studied area consists of a unique interconnection of the local sandstone subsoil with an extraordinary amount of artistic expressions and alternative cultural events whose organizers are directly or indirectly associated with stone processing. This interconnection is unparalleled in any region of the Czech Republic. The graduates of the Secondary School of Stonemasonry and Sculpture in Hořice in Podrkonoší or otherwise artistically oriented persons belong to most organizers of alternative cultural events. Their links to the Czech anti-Communist cultural underground determine to a great extent the character of cultural events and are the source of contacts with the bearers of alternative cultures outside the art-oriented artistic scene. Czechoslovakia, respectively the Czech Republic, underwent two totalitarian regimes (Nazism, Communism) in the 20th century, which led to the destruction of a significant part of the local cultural elite (besides the execution, e. g. the liquidation of the Jews and the post-war expulsion of the Germans).

This led, together with state control of citizens, to weakening cultural diversity and creating illegal alternatives to permitted culture. The arrival of liberal democracy and the market economy, along with free choice, also meant the commercialization of culture in conjunction with the elements of "ideologically harmless" (a "normalization" art that does not contain criticism of existing social and political circumstances), neo-normalizing entertainment that does not need to be thought. Thus, the more significant seem to be the existing alternatives that can be perceived as carriers of new cultural diversity and initiators of cultural life in peripheral regions - the regions outside the big cities. In further exploration of the topic, it will be advisable to focus attention on the absence of reflection of this fact in the marketing of the destination, the attitudes of the local population to this phenomenon, and the monitoring of changes in the nature of alternative cultural events with emphasis on the risk of commercialization and the maintenance of generational continuity.