The social debate on the rights of the LGBT+ community has been revived in light of the adoption of discriminatory laws in Hungary and the Prague Pride festival recently took place in Prague.
The idea of free love and equality is also supported by a new collection of fine coffee and designer T-shirts with original motifs by a Hungarian painter. It is the first activity of the long-term project supporting LGBT+ communities called Pride Gallery Blend. The project is backed by the Prague café Vnitroblock and the creative communication agency VMLY&R. T-shirts and coffee are now available in Vnitroblock Prague, T-shirts are available also in Footshop.cz online store.
The current social and political situation in Hungary shows that freedom of speech, human dignity, and equality are still not a matter of course, even in developed countries. "The Czech Republic is a small country, but when it comes to supporting and enforcing the rights of the LGBT+ community, we are progressive and enjoy the status of an open, liberal haven in the middle of Europe. And it is from this position that we want to express our support for people from these communities and their supporters living in less privileged countries. We connected with Prague café and multifunctional space Vnitroblock, and together we came up with a project called Pride Gallery Blend. Our motivation is to support artists from LGBT+ minorities and help them to make their work and the problems visible in their countries", says Julia Dovlatova, Creative Director of VMLY&R, the author of the creative concept. Together with her team, she endowed it with a unique visual style. It was in Hungary where a law banning the dissemination of materials depicting homosexuality or gender reassignment among people under the age of 18 was recently signed. Therefore, a Hungarian artist, painter Ákos Molnár, was the first to be selected for collaboration.
"We wanted to use our cultural reach and come up with a project for a good cause. Our goal was to avoid the pathos and vague idealism, which, however well-intentioned, is far from the real essence. That's why we chose a special collection of coffee blends as a medium for our message. Indeed, basic human rights can, and should, be promoted by something as mundane as coffee. Coffee does not judge you and does not ask who you are – it brings equal pleasure to everyone who drinks it", says Lukáš Žďárský, co-owner of Vnitroblock.
The result is a collection of several types of coffee blends with five design labels. Each of them depicts one letter or character standing for LGBT+, and it also shows the work of the selected artist. The coffee beans collection is followed by a collection of T-shirts in five designs. They are available at Vnitroblock since Tuesday, August 10. In August, the collection will be complemented by a set of design posters. Depending on the variety, the price of the 200g coffee package starts at CZK 300/piece, T-shirts will be sold for a single price of CZK 990 /piece. Next year, Vnitroblock and the VMLY&R agency have the ambition to expand into the world and to develop the entire project as a full-fledged platform supporting young LGBT+ creators from around the world.
About Ákos Molnár
Ákos Molnár is a Hungarian painter. He actively advocates the rights of the LGBT+ community and uses the canvas and brushes as a way to fight for his beliefs. He says: “love must not become a sin - it has many forms and is not black and white, just as our world is not black and white“.
In his work, he uses a variety of strong colours that evoke stormy emotions. Most often they are fiery red, shaky blue, and greenish shades. Sometimes, however, he deliberately breaks his characteristic colour palette and turns it into free association, lyrical and sometimes brutally sincere. His work is full of human emotions, but it also has spiritual moments. In his creative process, he lets himself be led by an inner revolution and shows that there is no order in the world.
Photos
You may find images of T-shirts and coffee blends with the Pride Gallery Blend design here. Please state Foto:Vnitroblock, Adam Helma
