Pavleye(s) on Prague

Although Prague, Czech Republic, does not currently rank high on the list of international art destinations, that may soon change due to the launch of the Oh So Living Concept Store.

The brainchild of the Pavleye Art and Culture agency, which aims to bring artists from across the globe to Prague, the recently opened Oh So Living Concept Store features exclusive collaborations with international artists all housed in a whimsical repurposed apartment that looks like it was designed by the Mad Hatter.

25-year-old Milosh Harajda, the creative producer for Pavleye, explained that by bringing in new and exclusive artwork from global artists the store will “bring and revive artistic life to the central European region.” Twenty years after the fall of the Soviet Union, Harajda says he hopes the store will help bridge areas formerly divided by the Iron Curtain.

For the store’s first event, Pavleye collaborated with publisher Angelika Taschen on the launch of photographer Anna Bauer’s book Backstage. Bauer captures fashion behind the scenes at runway shows worldwide in unguarded moments in stunning black-and-white photographs. At the launch party, printed photos were hung in the space.

Harajda says that the future of publishing could lie in producing more artistic works that that aren’t readily available to download on a Kindle. “The library becomes a fashionable thing,” said Harajda. “[We’re] convinced that people [will] read books like they’re collectible art pieces.”

“The greatest compliment that we received [was that] people didn’t feel like they were in Prague,” recalled Harajda. “They felt like they were in Manhattan.”