Around 1.5 million years ago, at the centre of the Bohemian Massif, the river Vltava first encountered the rigid sandstone of Letná massiv, setting the stage for the emergence of medieval Prague. The city has not only been shaped by its geological foundations but has also continually drawn the attention of natural scientists. In the early 19th century, Joachim Barrande meticulously charted Prague’s Ordovician strata and the extravagant organisms preserved in its rock, setting the foundation for the discipline of modern palaeontology.

This AA Visiting School Prague invites participants to trace Barrande’s journey through the valley now called Barrandov, where sedimentary cliffs and prehistoric remnants intermingle with romantic parks, last communist housing estates, film studios and uncompromising infrastructure. Through excursions to depot collections, we will engage with Barrande’s meticulously preserved minerals and fossils, studying both their contents and the methods of their curation. In on-site surveys, we will explore and document the dramatic cliffs, the plateaus of the housing estates, and the contemporary landscape of Barrandov’s film industry. Based in Barrande’s original house in Prague, we will develop an imaginative collection of drawings and objects, capturing the valley’s geological, paleontological and architectural layers.

The programme unfolds across three parallel scales—artefact, valley, and territory—each explored by a dedicated outcome, building on, and redrawing a specific original drawing of Joachim Barrande. The artefact group will collect, investigate and repurpose found objects, materials and mineral and engage with Barrande’s original fossils and lithographs in the National Museum archive. The valley group will treat the site as a distinct material body, reinterpreting Barrande’s unpublished sectional diaries through contemporary topographic scanning methods. Meanwhile, the territory group will expand from Barrande’s regional cross-section in Système Silurien, mapping geological strata, tectonic, cultural and architectural movements that connect the valley to Prague’s wider landscape.

An interdisciplinary group of tutors, scientists, technical partners, and guests will provide participants with guidance in archival research, 3d scanning techniques, and different representational practices. As a final outcome of the programme, we will compile our response to Barrande’s collection, to be exhibited in his's former apartment in central Prague as our collective reading of Barrande’s valley.

Programme Overview