GA-I-SU-RA

What does GA-I-SU-RA mean? It is a Japanese rendering of the name Geisler. Through a carefully considered selection of characters – found on the calligraphic seals of Petr Geisler (1949–2009) – an unexpectedly rich narrative unfolds: that of a Czech japanologist, calligrapher, translator, journalist, and photographer who devoted part of his life to the Land of the Rising Sun. The exhibition GA-I-SU-RA offers the most comprehensive view to date of the breadth and scope of Geisler’s work. It brings into dialogue two worlds –geographically distant and culturally distinct – while revealing the subtle affinities between the Japanese and Czech cultural spheres that his practice so compellingly connects. At the heart of the publication are reproductions of Geisler’s calligraphies, accompanied by an essay by the distinguished japanologist Helena Honcoopová, alongside curatorial and personal contributions and the artist’s own photographs from Japan. More than a catalogue, the book becomes a space of encounter – where script and image, scholarship and memory converge, and where calligraphy endures as an expression of an inner stance and a sustained impulse to create. The catalogue is published by Euromedia Group under the Universum imprint.

concept: Ester Geislerová, Aňa Geislerová

240 pages, Czech and English