A special edition of DOXYGEN for the younger audience of the FALL festival.

Today masculinity is transforming, as are notions of gender roles, identity, and interpersonal relationships, and so it is no longer true that strength, performance, and dominance must be its only facets. Nevertheless, this idea remains deeply rooted in our culture and everyday life. The accompanying programme for the ANDROS exhibition will focus on the various forms that male identity can take today and the uncertainties and expectations associated with it. Curator Vratislav Maňák will discuss the phenomenon of the manosphere with Linda Bartošová, journalist and co-host of the podcast Sirény (Sirens), and Miroslav Harant, journalist and creator of the radio programme Slejvák (Downpour). Together they will explore its influence on contemporary notions of masculinity and the question of how the transformation of traditional gender roles affects men and women alike. What will remain when masculinity is no longer considered a given?

You can then explore the topic further in the ANDROS exhibition with a brief commentary by the curator. The discussion will be moderated by Czech journalist Tereza Engelová.

DOXYGEN features lectures, discussions, creative workshops, and everything in between. Contemporary art, contemporary phenomena, contemporary figures, and the contemporary moment. Regular gatherings at DOX for the young and young at heart, ages 16 and up.

Vratislav Maňák is a Czech writer, journalist, and literary historian. He teaches at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague. He made his literary debut with the collection of short stories Šaty z igelitu (Plastic Dress, 2011), for which he won the Jiří Orten Award. His novel Rubikova kostka (Rubik’s Cube, 2016) was nominated for the European Union Prize for Literature. In his subsequent books, Smrt staré Maši (The Death of Old Masha, 2022) and Goethe v Mariánských Lázních (Goethe in Marienbad, 2024), he explored themes of intimacy, memory, and the conditions of existence in central Europe. His books are also regularly published in German. In his latest book, S Wittgensteinem v gay sauně (With Wittgenstein in a Gay Sauna, 2026), he combines reportage with a personal perspective and reflections on homosexuality, corporeality, and the queer experience. This autumn Maňák is also curating an exhibition at DOX titled Andros, which explores the theme of the male body in contemporary central European art.

Linda Bartošová is a journalist, writer, and television presenter. She studied journalism at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, where she is currently pursuing a degree in gender studies at the Faculty of Humanities. From 2013 to 2022 she worked at Czech Television, starting out at the foreign desk and later hosting the main news broadcasts. In 2020 she was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. She has written two books of interviews – one in which she speaks with female journalists about the Czech media scene and the other on the topic of mental health. She has also created several documentary podcast series, including Krása (Beauty, 2022) and Slast (Bliss, 2024), the latter of which won second prize in the 2025 Prix Bohemia Radio competition in the category of Podcast of the Year. She has been working independently since 2024, hosting discussions, festivals, and public events, and she is a co-creator of the video podcast Sirény (Sirens, 2025).

Miroslav Harant works as a journalist at Page Not Found, where he covers developments in the digital sphere and their wider social implications. He previously worked for the website iROZHLAS.cz, where he published a five-part series entitled Do hlubin manosféry (Into the Depths of the Manosphere), in which he spent several months mapping toxic online communities targeting Czech men. He is the co-creator of a radio documentary series called Z pasti (Out of the Trap) focusing on people who previously lived in care homes; it airs on Radio Wave, where he also co-hosts the pop culture programme Slejvák (Downpour).