GA-I-SU-RA reveals the world of legendary Japanologist and calligrapher Petr Geisler
18 Mar 2026
Contact for media
Karolína Kočí
+420 777 870 219
karolina.koci@dox.cz
The DOX Centre for Contemporary Art is launching the exhibition GA-I-SU-RA, the most comprehensive presentation to date of the work of Czech Japanologist, translator, journalist, calligrapher, photographer, and educator Petr Geisler (1949–2009). The project profiles an extraordinary figure who left a unique mark on cultural relations between the Czech Republic and Japan. The exhibition took shape gradually over the course of more than fifteen years at the initiative of Ester Geislerová, who developed the project over the long term and gathered materials from the family archive, among other sources. She then invited Petr Holý, a Japanologist, theatre scholar, and former student of Petr Geisler, to help shape the project’s final form. Aňa Geislerová also contributed to the exhibition concept, bringing a personal perspective to the project alongside her sister.
The exhibition presents Geisler’s work spanning several decades – from expressive calligraphy created spontaneously during his “idle moments” between jobs, to multiple-exposure photographs from 1980s Japan, to a monumental transcription of the Buddhist Heart Sutra which once adorned a wall in the arcade of the Metro Palace on Národní třída in Prague.
Curators: Ester Geislerová, Petr Holý
Exhibition concept: Ester Geislerová, Aňa Geislerová
GA-I-SU-RA
19. 3. 2026–7. 6. 2026
Photos for download
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, Ester Geslerová, Petr Holý, Aňa Geislerová_photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, Aňa Geislerová, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, Ester Geislerová, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, Petr Holý, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, view of the exhibition, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, view of the exhibition, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, view of the exhibition, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, view of the exhibition, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, view of the exhibition, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
DOX, GA-I-SU-RA, view of the exhibition, photo by Jan Slavík ©DOX
Petr Geisler, The Red Tree (1987), Japan, photo from the Geisler family archive
Petr Geisler, Ueno Street (1987), Japan, multi-exposure, photo from the Geisler family archive
Petr Geisler, Homeless Man (1987), Japan, double exposure
Petr Geisler, Japanese Calligraphy (2000), ink on wood
Petr Geisler, calligraphy “Dance” (1998), bleach on paper
Petr Geisler, Calligraphy: The Heart Sutra, Happening from the 1990s, Photo from the Geisler family archive
Petr Geisler's daughters, photo by Tono Stano, from the Geisler family archive
Věra Geislerová and Petr Geisler, photo from the Geisler family archive
Petr Geisler with his family (wife Věra and daughters Aňa and Lela), photo from the Geisler family archive
Petr Geisler, middle-aged, photo from the Geisler family archive
Petr Geisler, lecturer at the Museum of Art in Japan, from the Geisler family archives
Felix Geisler and his sisters at a graduation ceremony, from the Geisler family archive
