The main purpose of this department is organizing of cultural activities. Two festivals, where the blind and partially sighted have the opportunity to show their art activities to the public, are held annually.
The festival Art Days of the Blind in Moravia is usually held in early June and is bent on professional artists, foremostly the musicians. Both the artists from the Czech Republic and from abroad participate. Our department arrange the concerts or exhibitions in the chosen Moravian towns in cooperation with the regional organizations of the Czech Blind United (SONS), cultural institutions, and the local authorities.
The second festival, which bents on amateur artists, is the autumnŽs TYFLOART. For this festival the following categories have been drawn out: musical, literary dramatical, graphic art and handy craft; after the consultation with the organizer there is the possibility to choose some other field according to the wish of the participant. The participants have the opportunity to get familiar with the art techniques and experience of others. The objectives of this festival is to encourage the blind to spend their free time more actively through the special-interest art groups and to bring out their abilities. A part of this three day festival is usually a performance for public and an exhibition. Uptil now the festival was annually held in the town of Zlin. This year it will be moved to the town of Ústí nad Labem, to give an opportunity to get to know the art of the blind to the spectators in different region.
Another important cultural events are two international competitions, which are held once in three years. The first one is the International Competition of the Blind and Partially-Sighted Music Composers. The participants send anonymously their work to the organizer and then the compositions are judged by the Czech jury ( the judges do not know the names of the contestants till the winning composition is known, and by this way the objectivity of judging the compositition itself and not the author is guaranteed ).
On the occasion of the International Competition of the Blind and Partially-Sighted MusiciansŽ opening ceremony the festive announcement of winners takes place, and the composers are awarded with the financial prices. If it is organizationally possible the participant of the opening ceremony, including the author himself may hear the winning composition in its world premiere.
The International Competition of the Blind and Partially-Sighted Musicians takes place during the spring following the year after the International Competitions of the Blind and Partially-Sighted Composers and it lasts one week. The participants are usually professional musicians, absolvensts of the music schools and conservatoires, which prepared them for the career of the professional musicians or sometimes the participants are the conservatoireŽs students at present. The competition has traditionally high standard and is the only one of this kind in world. It is organized in close cooperation with PragueŽs Conservatoire and tuning school of J. Deyl ( the school-leaver of the Conservatoire and Tuning School has the same education as their colleagues at different conservatoires ). The participants of the competitions may chose one of the following music categories: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, French horn, trombone, violin, viola, violoncello, double-bass, piano, accordion, guitar, and singing. The performances are judged by the international jury, composed of twelve members, usually the music teachers and some well known musicians. The competition has three rounds, and the financial prizes are sponsored by the Foundation of the Czech Musical Fund.
The last International Competition of the Blind and Partially-Sighted Composers was held in 1996 and the next is being prepared for this year 1999. The deadline for acceptation of the application forms and the competition composititons is October 15, 1999. The last year of the International Competition of the Blind and Partially-Sighted Music Interpreters was held in 1997 in Marienbad. The opening ceremony was also visited by the prezident of the European Blind Union Mr. John Wall and the performance of the competitiors from different countries of the world had a great standard. The next International Competition of the Blind and Partially-Sighted Musicians will take place in March 2000 in Prague. The preliminary and obligatory registration forms are available at SONS, the Department of Cultural Affairs.
IX. International Competition of Blind and Partially Sighted Musicians
VIII. International Competition of Blind and Partially Sighted Music Composers
