Albert Camus: The Artist and His Time

The essay, in which Albert Camus reflects on the fate of the artist in a world marked by wars, ideologies and the decay of values, is based on his lecture given in December 1957 on the occasion of receiving the Nobel Prize. It is not a mere reflection on literature, but an analysis of the moral responsibility of the artist towards his time: according to the author, art should neither be detached from reality and focused on itself, nor serve any power interests. According to Camus, true art grows out of the tension between freedom and solidarity, between beauty and justice.

The essay, which has not lost its relevance even today, is being published in Czech for the first time on the occasion of the FALL festival, translated by Denis Molčanov. The project is implemented by the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art with the financial support of the Czech Literary Fund Foundation.