Doc. Petr Pavlík

(Míša Čaňková: It was autumn of 1968 when you came back.) “Yes, I came back and, so to say, plunged into painting. Finally in 1973 I finished my studies - and that was another thing: in those days The Union of Czechoslovak Artists governed over everything here and I and my friends and colleagues were not accepted as members. We could only be registered, meaning that as artists we had to show some income. And because at that time I actually had no income, I didn´t earn anything, to be honest I was supported by my parents, then I had to pay a made up tax on the made up profit. Otherwise I´d be a sponger, a parasite, in short it´d be a punishable act. However, then I started teaching art courses at different schools and also sold a thing or two.“

“Scientists, better said scientific institutes, did a good job. For example The Micromolecular Institute in Prague Petřiny or The Microbiological Institute in Prague Krč. The exhibitions took place in their corridors, yet not without conflicts. For example when we were installing the exhibition of our generation in The Microbiological Institute in Krč, there happened to be some dilligent informer who noticed Michael Rittstein´s painting Don´t Want to Be in a Cage. He telephoned to announce this to the Union. During the installation works an official Skoda 613 from the Union arrived, from the committee of the Union, and a second one with Müller, the infamous boss of the Cultural Section of the Central Committee of the Party. After they walked through the installation, they locked us in one room (we were about 15 artists exhibiting). Luckily, we managed to call Kotalík who jumped into the third Skoda 613, arrived in an hour and saved us. I believe they would have arrested us. The exhibition was closed after two or three days, but at least it materialized.“