Ga-i-su-ra – Exhibition of Japanologist Petr Geisler

The GA-I-SU-RA exhibition at the Centre for Contemporary Art DOX (19 March – 7 June 2026) is the most comprehensive presentation to date of the work of Czech Japanologist, translator, journalist, calligrapher, photographer and educator Petr Geisler (1949–2009). The exhibition, spread across three floors of the Holešovice DOX, introduces an extraordinary figure who left a unique mark on cultural relations between the Czech Republic and Japan. The exhibition title GA-I-SU-RA (我意須羅) is a phonetic transcription of Geisler's surname into Japanese characters, whose literal translation reads "my intention requires silk". As a self-taught artist, Geisler created original ink drawings based on Japanese writing – he worked not only with traditional paper and ink, but also with liquid enamels, blotting paper, cardboard, foils and rolls of fax thermal paper. The exhibition includes authentic objects from his private archive: calligraphic writing implements, personal seals, artefacts from his legendary office where he taught Japanology in the 1990s, slides from Japan and film recordings of happenings from his student years. The exhibition also features a unique installation and reconstruction of the happening Heart Sutra, in which the visitor finds themselves inside the text of one of the most famous Buddhist sutras. The exhibition was created at the initiative of Petr Geisler's family – particularly his daughters Ester and Aňa Geislerová – in collaboration with Japanologist Petr Holý. The curators are Ester Geislerová and Petr Holý, and the exhibition concept was prepared by Ester Geislerová and Aňa Geislerová.