MILAN KNIZAK

[#20203]

Zeremonien. AKTUAL (Czech FLUXUS) Remscheid: Vice-Versand, 1971. Octavo, unpaginated, (112 pages printed on different colored stock), illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings. Ringbound with red printed covers and protective acetate cover. Photographs by Zdena Zizkova, Peter Moore, Jan Maria Mach, Milan Knizak et al. - First edition. Numbered copy (#220). Fine condition.

Soon after Knizak created this book the Czechoslovakian police searched his home on the grounds that the artist was creating and distributing pornographic material. Knizak was imprisoned in Prague on three charges including, no. 1: that this book 'through its form and content [Knizak's artwork] intended to discredit the image of a Czechoslovakian abroad'; 2 because his works were seen to be pornographic 'in the eyes of the law of Czechoslovakia'; and 3 because 'the work of Milan Knizak is undesirable within the framework of Czechoslovakian cultural policy'. After public pressure, Knizak was released from prison (ref: Schmuck, Czechoslovakia issue 1974, p. 1).

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