THE REAL WORLD ADVENTURES OF ALOIS MUSIL: A BRIEF LOOK INTO HIS LIFE AND DISCOVER












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            * THE REAL WORLD ADVENTURES OF ALOIS MUSIL: A BRIEF LOOK INTO HIS LIFE AND DISCOVERIES
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            If, like me, you are interested in history but not passionate enough that you want to spen

            exhibitions reading reels of facts and information, then the present Alois Musil exhibitio
            – Czech Lawrence of Arabia" in the Faculty of Arts provides the perfect middle ground. Sit
            corridor on the top floor of Charles University, the Faculty of Arts Celetná Street buildi

            Ethnology has put on a modest exhibit of Musil's impressive life and work history.
            Alois Musil (1868-1944) is unfortunately not commonly known to present Czechs (or foreigne
            myself) but he was a very interesting person. The central display of the exhibition is the

            himself. His unique life ambitions and explorations are enough to make anyone engage with 
            it certainly made me want to read more about Musil and his impressive achievements.

            Musil’s connection to Charles University was established in the first years of the indepen
            Czechoslovakia: "In 1920 he was appointed Professor of the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts 
            University in Prague. He played a key role in establishing the Oriental Institute in Pragu

            organisation facilitated by President Masaryk. It was also Masaryk who urged Musil to publ
            work in English to promote Czechoslovakia."
            Musil’s research and work is undoubtedly impressive. A Catholic priest by education and pr

            travelled to Jerusalem and Beirut in the last decade of 19th century to further his knowle
            Here he became interested in the Arab world and spent the next two decades travelling with
            a huge body of scientific material. During these years, Musil mastered 35 dialects of Arab

            modern and classical languages. His extensive knowledge of the Arab world led Austria-Hung
            with military missions in the region during World War I. Musil acted thus as opponent of t
            British T. E. Lawrence, the famous Lawrence of Arabia.

            One of the first displays I came to at the exhibition features four small sections of text
            Czech and two in English - which were decorated with several images of some of the Umayyad
            discovered by Musil in today’s Jordan and Syria. The texts give descriptions and historica

            about 'Qasr Kharana' and 'Qasr Al-Mshatta'. Though the descriptions are brief, they certai
            in substance and provide all necessary information in a succinct form.
            The next few displays follow a similar theme, with a main text in the centre and images pe

            outside. Most of them centre on the Umayyad desert castles, while one of the displays addr
            cut architecture of Petra, Jordan.
            The Umayyad desert castles were Musil’s biggest discovery; the most impressive of the dese

            remains his first discovery, 'Qasr Amra', from 1898. This desert castle, originating from 
            8th century, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. Qasr Amra is most notable f
            on the inside walls. Many of these depict representations of people, a practice which was 

            in Islamic countries.
            The best part about this exhibition for me was the display cabinet of photographs of Musil
            of his books. Both the books and photographs are still in impeccable condition and both ar

            window into who Alois Musil really was. It is reassuring to know that such important and r
            being given the proper recognition and care by Charles University. Their passion for prese
            artifacts is apparent as you walk through the building and along the many exhibitions on d

            obvious that this level of passion and care is intrinsic to the Alois Musil exhibition.
            The exhibition only took around 25 minutes to look round in its entirety, so I would parti
            it to anyone looking for a quick fix of history while they have a few minutes to spare, or

            short break between lectures. The exhibition is open until the end of September 2016.     
            Casey Whiting is a Journalism student at De Monfort University in Leicester, England. Case
            photography and photojournalism.                                                          

                                                                                                      
            Julia O'Driscoll is a third year student of Liberal Arts at the University of Bristol, and
            literature, and enjoys meeting new like minded people which being part of the iForum encou