The Debt: The Epilogue of Long Friendship

Special material. These two words somewhat euphemistically refer to weapons and military technology in the archival documents of former Czechoslovakia. These were important Czechoslovak commodities, which were exported to various parts of the world during the 20th century.

Year of creation: 2020

video

Starring: Husam Abed, Tomáš Petřík
Camera: Michal Blecha
Music: Jakub Rataj
Thanks to: Kateřina Konvalinová, National Film Archive in Prague, Meetfactory, Hablar En Arte, CentroCentro, State Silk Museum 

More info

With the rise of the Communist Party government in Czechoslovakia in 1948, there was a turn in this area towards cooperation with fraternal socialist regimes. The Syrian Arab Republic stood out of a long line of these friendly states in the framework of trade cooperation. The first contract with Czechoslovakia was signed in the second half of the forties and mutual trade and cultural dialogue lasted until 1991. The Debt with the subtitle The Epilogue of Long Friendship is the first output of the artist Jiří Žák from his research of Czech-Syrian relations and arms exports of Czechoslovakia. The Debt situates us in the early nineties when we witness the negotiation of government representatives of the two countries. The subject of their negotiations is the debt that Syria has gradually increased over the years. Through fictional dialogue, Žák deals with the reality of the Czechoslovak arms industry and the end of one long friendship.

Where

Meetfactory, Prague, CZ

TRAFO Center for Contemporary Art, Szczecin, PL

Plato Gallery, Ostrava, CZ

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