Design Museum BrusselsHeysel
A century of Czech and Czechoslovak graphic design, from posters and books to logos and national symbols.
Prague's illuminated metro signs hang in a museum here, next to film posters, books and typefaces. The point is the stuff Czechs see every day without noticing: transport signs, film advertising, lettering, and the state symbols, down to how the Czechoslovak flag was worked out.
The show covers 400 square metres and runs from the search for a national identity in the new Czechoslovakia to the changes after 1989. Curators Filip Blažek and Linda Kudrnovská argue that politics decided what designers could see and who would commission them. Their example is Expo 58: the Czechoslovak pavilion's success at the Brussels fair gave modern design cover back home. That fair is why the Atomium stands outside the door, so the argument is half made before you walk in.
This Brussels version is larger than the touring one, with audiovisual installations, pieces you can touch and a creative corner. Texts are in English, French and Dutch. Open daily 11:00 to 19:00.
Prague metro signs
Look for the illuminated signs from Prague's metro, shown as design objects rather than wayfinding.
The Czechoslovak flag
The state symbols section traces how the Czechoslovak flag was developed.
The Female Graphic Voice
A new projection made for Brussels introduces Czech women designers through their work and their accounts of their careers.
Film posters
Czech film advertising sits alongside book design and typefaces, showing how politics shaped what could be printed.
There is a creative area for adults and children, and some exhibits can be touched. Under-13s get in free.