Chronology. 1923 24 March Běla Helclová is born in Terezín, Czechoslovakia, into the family of an army musician.

Chronology 1923 24 March Běla Helclová is born in Terezín, Czechoslovakia, into the family of an army musician. 1 September German invasion of Poland starts the Second World War. 1941 Graduates from business school and begins working for the publishing house Mladé proudy, later renamed Dílo. 1942 Czech artist collective Skupina 42 [Group 42] is officially founded. Jiří Kolář is a member. 1929 Attends grammar school in the Orlické Mountains in East Bohemia. 1933 Her family moves to Újezd nad Lesy where they buy a house. Attends the Grammar School for Girls in Vodičkova Street in Prague. 1934 Her father dies. 1935 Falls ill with tuberculosis and undergoes long-term medical treatment. 1938 Leaves grammar school and attends private business school in Prague. Nazi Germany occupies the Sudetenland (northern and western border regions of Czechoslovakia). 1939 16 March Wehrmacht troops occupy the remainder of Czechoslovakia as Hitler proclaims the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. 1943 After Mladé proudy is shut down by the authorities, leaves for Zlín to work in the Baťa shoe factory and avoid forced labour in Germany. 1944 Meets Jiří Kolář in Zlín for the first time. 1945 January Leaves heavily bombed Zlín and returns to Prague. April Third Republic comes into being with a National Coalition government headed by Edvard Beneš. May Works in the reopened publishing house Dílo. 1947 Announcement of Marshall Plan by the USA ignites the Cold War. 1948 Skupina 42 ceases to exist. 25 February Under pressure from Moscow, Beneš appoints Communist Klement Gottwald as Prime Minister. 2 June Beneš resigns from presidency and is succeeded by Gottwald. 105 Běla Kolářová in Terezín, 1926

1949 Marries Jiří Kolář. Czechoslovakia becomes a member of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon). 1952 December Jiří Kolář is arrested and imprisoned for nine months after the manuscript of his collection of poems Prométheova játra [Prometheus s Liver] is found during a police raid on the flat of literary critic Václav Černý. 1955 Starts working with a Flexaret camera purchased by Jiří Kolář. 14 May Czechoslovakia signs the Warsaw Pact. 1956 Falls ill again with tuberculosis. Leaves work and focuses on photography. 1957 Produces her first photographic series, Dětské hry [Children s Games]. 1959 Moves to Prague s Vinohrady district where she has her own darkroom. 1960 11 July Czechoslovakia becomes the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (until 1989). 1961 Creates her first 'artificial negatives' by pressing microscopic organic matter or small everyday objects onto paraffincoated sheets of celluloid or inserting them between sheets of cellophane, which then serve as photographic negatives. 1962 Creates her first light drawings by projecting light directly onto the photographic paper. Participates in her first group exhibition, Nová jména ve fotografii [New Names in Photography] at Klub výtvarných umělců Mánes, Prague. 1963 Creates her first arranged photographs of everyday objects. Artist collective Křižovatka [Crossroads] is founded in Prague by Jiří Kolář and Jiří Padrta. 1964 Starts photographing hair and creates her first assemblages. Joins Křižovatka as one of two women artists. March April Participates in the first exhibition of Křižovatka at Galerie Václava Špály, Prague. 1965 Současná fotografie [Contemporary Photography] at Klub výtvarných umělců Mánes, Prague. 27 August 26 September Objekt [Object] curated by Eva Petrová at Galerie Václava Špály, Prague. 106 Běla Kolářová, undated (early 1950s)

1966 14 January 6 February Obraz a písmo [Image and Writing] curated by Jiří Padrta at Galerie Václava Špály, Prague, travelling to Oblastní galerie Vysočiny v Jihlavě, Jihlava, and Regionální muzeum Kolín, Kolín. 6 May 5 June Surrealismus a fotografie [Surrealism and Photography] curated by Václav Zykmund at Dům pánů z Kunštátu Dům umění města Brna, Brno, travelling to Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany. Arlington-une. Summer 66 at Arlington Mill, Bibury, UK. 3 November 27 November First solo exhibition at Galerie na Karlově náměstí, Prague. Contributes an artist statement to Soudobá fotografie v Československu [Contemporary Photography in Czechoslovakia], an anthology compiled by art historian Anna Fárová. 5 January Reformist Alexander Dubček becomes First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia [KSČ] and initiates a period of liberalisation known as the Prague Spring. 10 March 17 April Nová citlivost. Křižovatka a hosté [New Sensitivity. Křižovatka and Guests] at Dům umění města Brna, Brno, travelling to Galerie umění Karlovy Vary, Karlovy Vary, and Výstavní síň Mánes, Prague. 27 March 12 May Klub konkrétistů [Club of Concrete Artists] at Oblastní galerie Vysočiny v Jihlavě, Jihlava, travelling to Kulturní středisko města Ústí nad Labem, Ústí nad Labem. 20 21 August Warsaw Pact armies invade Czechoslovakia. The exhibition Nová citlivost at Výstavní síň Mánes in Prague is closed prematurely due to the occupation of the building by Soviet troops. 1967 Becomes a candidate member of the Union of Czechoslovak Visual Artists (until 1970). Umění písma/poesie písma [The Art of Writing / The Poetry of Writing] at Moravské zemské muzeum, Brno. 11 Künstler aus der Tschechoslowakei [11 Artists from Czechoslovakia] at Studio Willmeroth, Augsburg, Germany. 1968 Divorces from Jiří Kolář. 107 Gallery visitor at Běla Kolářová s first solo exhibition at Galerie na Karlově náměstí, Prague, 1966 Běla and Jiří Kolář with the assemblage Clip in the Clips, 1969

1969 16 January During nonviolent mass protests against Soviet occupation, student Jan Palach immolates himself in Wenceslas Square, Prague. 17 April Gustáv Husák becomes First Secretary of the KSČ and launches counter-reformist policies known as Normalisation. 14 August 31 August Shows arrangements of perishable foodstuffs in the exhibition Někde něco [Somewhere Something] alongside work by Jiří Kolář and the artists couple Zorka and Jan Ságl at Galerie Václava Špály, Prague. 23 September 28 October Participates in the II. Pražský salon [Second Prague Salon] at U Hybernů, Prague. Exhibits with Jiří Kolář in the framework of the literary festival neue literatur in hof, Hof, Germany. 1970 Jiří Kolář suffers a stroke. 1971 Marries Jiří Kolář for the second time. 1972 The anthology Soudobá fotografie v Československu is seized by censors and destroyed upon its publication. 1975 Creates her first make-up drawings. Accompanies Jiří Kolář to New York for his exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum. 11 July 8 August Internationale visuele poëzie [International Visual Poetry] at the t Hoogt, Utrecht, travelling to Galerie de Doelen, Rotterdam, and Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. August Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová: Fotografie at Minigalerie Výzkumného ústavu veterinárního lékařství [Minigallery at Veterinary Research Institute], Brno. 1977 1 January Jiří Kolář signs the Charter 77 against Normalisation. 1978 27 April Signatories of the Charter 77 found the dissident Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Persecuted (Výbor na obranu nespravedlivě stíhaných). 1979 Moves to West Berlin with Jiří Kolář who has been offered a one-year residency by the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD. 1980 Moves to Paris with Jiří Kolář. 108 Běla Kolářová s Czech Visual Artists Fund membership card, 1982 84

1981 After the couple fail to get their visas extended, returns to Prague to sort out their personal affairs and is forbidden to leave the country until 1985. Her husband decides to stay in Paris to attend to his exhibition at Galerie Lelong and will later be condemned in absentia. 1982 Becomes a member of the Czech Visual Artists Fund (until 1984). 1984 Aspects of Czechoslovak Photography at Thackery & Robertson, San Francisco. 1985 Obtains permission to leave Czechoslovakia and reunites with her husband in exile in Paris. Sensibilités contemporaines : 70 artistes d origine tchèque et slovaque hors Tchécoslavaquie 1970-1984 [Contemporary Sensibilities: Seventy Artists of Czech and Slovak Origin Outside Czechoslovakia] at Librairie La Dérive, Grenoble. 1987 Deuxième exposition annuelle internationale d art miniature [Second Annual International Exhibition of Miniature Art] at Galerie Del Bello, Toronto. 1988 s Spring 68: Exhibition of Seven Czech Artists, Summer Show and Homage to the Square: Josef Albers and 99 Invited Artists at Flaxman Gallery, London. Autour de la Revue K [Around Revue K] at Librairie La Lune et les Feux, Paris. 45 artistes tchèques exposent à Paris au bénéfice du Forum civique [45 Czech Artists Exhibit in Paris for the Benefit of the Civic Forum] at Galerie l Usine, Paris. 1989 15 June 27 August Stopadesát fotografíí [One Hundred and Fifty Photographs] at Moravská galerie v Brně, Brno, travelling to Galerie výtvarného umění v Hodoníně, Hodonín. 9 November Fall of the Berlin Wall. 17 November Suppression of peaceful student demonstration in Prague by riot police marks the beginning of the Velvet Revolution. 10 December Husák resigns from Presidency. 29 December Playwright and human rights activist Václav Havel is elected President. 1990 31 March 27 May Anwesenheit bei Abwesenheit Fotogramme und die Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts [Presence of Absence: Photograms and the Art of the Twentieth Century], Schweizerische Stiftung für die Photographie at Kunsthaus Zürich. 24 October 24 November Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová : Photographies 1956-1964 at Galerie J. & J. Donguy, Paris. 1991 4 February 3 March Český informel: Průkopníci abstrakce z let 1957 1964 [Czech Informal Art: Pioneers of Abstraction] at Galerie hlavního města Prahy and Galerie Václava Špály, Prague, travelling to Severočeská galerie výtvarného umění v Litoměřicích, Litoměřice. 29 September 24 November Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Galerie U Bílého jednorožce, Klatovy. 1992 9 January 3 February Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová: Fotografie 1961 1966 at Pražský dům fotografie, Prague. 25 February 29 March Československá fotografie v exilu (1939 1989) 109

[Czechoslovakian Photography in Exile], Výstavní síň Mánes, Prague. 7 April 3 May Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová: Fotografie z počátku šedesátých let ze sbírek Moravské galerie v Brně [Photographs from the Early Sixties from the Collections of the Moravian Gallery] at Moravská galerie v Brně, Brno. 1993 1 January Czechoslovakia dissolves into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. 27 October 2 January 1994 Poesie racionality: Konstruktivní tendence v českém výtvarném umění šedesátých let [Poetry of Rationality: Constructivist Tendencies in the Czech Visual Arts from the Sixties] at České muzeum výtvarných umění, Prague. 1994 Quatorze artistes autour de la Revue K [Fourteen Artists Around Revue K] at Galerie Le Pont Neuf, Paris. 27 May 16 October Europa, Europa Das Jahrhundert der Avantgarde in Mittel- und Osteuropa [The Century of the Avant-Garde in Central and Eastern Europe] at Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn. 23 June 12 September Nová citlivost [New Sensitivity] at Severočeská galerie výtvarného umění v Litoměřicích, Litoměřice, travelling to Východočeská galerie, Pardubice, Oblastní galerie Vysočiny v Jihlavě, Jihlava, Moravská galerie v Brně, Brno, Muzeum umění Olomouc, Olomouc, Dům umění v Opavě, Opava, Pražákův palác, Brno. 1995 15 November 9 December Revue K at Galerie J. & J. Donguy, Paris. 27 November 12 January 1996 Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová: Malá retrospektiva [Small Retrospective] at Galerie 60/ 70, Prague. 1996 13 October 30 November Zpřítomnění: Přírůstky galerie z let 1987 1994 [Revitalisation: New Acquisitions], Galerie Klatovy/Klenová, Janovice nad Úhlavou. 1997 6 March 13 April Solo exhibition, Běla Kolářová: práce z let 1956 1996 [Work from 1956 to 1996] at Severočeská galerie výtvarného umění v Litoměřicích, Litoměřice, travelling to Dům umění města Brna, Brno, and Východočeská Galerie v Pardubicích, Pardubice. 7 February 31 December Mezi tradicí a experimentem: práce na papíře a s papírem v českém výtvarném umění 1939 1989 [Between Tradition and Experiment: Works on Paper and with Paper in Czech Visual Art] at Muzeum umění Olomouc, Olomouc. 4 September 16 November Česká koláž [Czech Collage] at Palác Kinských, Prague. 1998 11 30 March Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová: Neznámé písmo (Fotogramy, derealisace, asambláže 1956 1996) [Unknown Writing (Photograms, Derealisations, Assemblages)] at Galerie U prstenu, Prague. 1999 The Kolářs leave Paris and return to Prague for good. 27 April 13 June Exhibits with her husband in Jiří Kolář, Běla Kolářová: Výběr z tvorby [Selected Works] at Výstavní síň 13, Pilsen. 21 October 28 November Umění zrychleného času: Česká výtvarná scéna 1958 1968 [Art When Time Accelerated: The Czech Art 110

Scene from 1958 to 1968] at České muzeum výtvarných umění v Praze, Prague, travelling to Státní galerie výtvarného umění v Chebu, Cheb. 24 November 26 March 2000 Akce, slovo, pohyb, prostor: Experimenty v umění šedesátých let [Action, Word, Movement, Space: Experiments in the Art of the Sixties], Galerie hlavního města Prahy, Prague. 2001 14 February 18 March Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Galerie Jiřího a Běly Kolářových, Prague. 31 May 26 August Objekt objekt: Metamorfózy v čase [Object Object: Metamorphoses in Time], České muzeum výtvarných umění v Praze, Prague, travelling to Moravská galerie v Brně, Brno. 14 June 30 September Fotografie jako umění v Československu let 1959 1968 [Photography as Art in Czechoslovakia], Moravská galerie v Brně, Brno. 2002 15 July 30 September Anima Animus (Manželské páry v generaci 60. let) [Married Couples from the Generation of the Sixties], Galerie Zlatá husa, Prague, travelling to Dům umění města Brna, Brno. 11 August Jiří Kolář dies in Prague. Donates Jiří Kolářs s personal collection to Museum Kampa, Prague. 2003 27 February 25 May Umění je abstrakce: Česká vizuální kultura 60. let [Art is an Abstraction: Czech Visual Culture of the Sixties] at Jízdárna Pražského hradu, Prague, travelling to Uměleckoprůmyslové muzeum, Brno, and Muzeum umění Olomouc, Olomouc. 16 May 10 August Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Amos Anderson Art Museum, Helsinki. 20 September 2 May 2004 Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Egon Schiele Art Centrum, Český Krumlov. 2004 1 September 10 October Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová: Fotografie a asambláže [Photographs and Assemblages] at Galerie Montanelli výstavní prostor, Prague. 10 September 17 October Šedesátá: Ze sbírky Galerie Zlatá husa [The Sixties: From the Collection of Zlatá Husa Gallery] at Dům umění města Brna, Brno, travelling to Galerie umění Karlovy Vary, Karlovy Vary. 21 October 28 November Participates in the exhibition Jeden život, dvě díla: Běla Kolářová, Jiří Kolář [One Life, Two Works], Galerie Františka Drtikola, Příbram. 2005 4 24 April Emigration out/in 1: Běla Kolářová, Jiří Kolář, Radek Kratina, Hugo Demartini at Saarländische Galerie Europäisches Kunstforum e.v., Berlin. 23 June 9 October Česká fotografie 20. století [Czech Photography of the Twentieth Century] at Galerie hlavního města Prahy, Prague. 19 October 4 November Participates in the exhibition Pokušení a pokoušení: Běla Kolářová, Jiří Kolář [Temptation and Tempting], Studio Paměť, Prague. 2006 27 January 9 April Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Národní galerie v Praze (Sbírka moderního a současného umění, Veletržní palác), Prague. 27 September 31 December Solo exhibition Experiment, řád, důvěrnost: Ženské rastry Běly Kolářové [Experiment, Order, Intimacy: The Feminine Patterns of Běla Kolářová] at Muzeum umění Olomouc, Olomouc. 111

2007 16 June 23 September Participates in documenta 12 in Kassel. 2008 26 April 4 June Běla Kolářová/Falke Pisano/Janice Kerbel/Sofie Thorsen at Galerie Krobath Wimmer, Vienna. 15 July 24 August Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Museum Kampa, Prague. 23 September 29 November Cutting Realities: Gender Strategies in Art at Austrian Cultural Forum, New York. 2009 27 May 21 February 2011 elles@ centrepompidou, artistes femmes dans les collections du Centre Pompidou [Women Artists in the Collection of Centre Pompidou] at Centre Pompidou Musée National d Art Moderne, Paris. 29 September 31 January 2010 MuMo Opening at Muzeum Montanelli, Prague. 23 October 5 December Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich. 13 November 14 February 2010 Gender Check Rollenbilder in der Kunst Osteuropas [Femininity and Masculinity in the Art of Eastern Europe] at mumok, Vienna. 2011 12 February 26 March Her work is shown in the exhibition Běla Kolářová & Lucie Stahl at Galerie der Stadt Schwaz, Austria, travelling to Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne. 13 May 18 June Her work is shown in the exhibition Curated by_marie Klimešová at Galerie Krobath, Vienna. 15 July 1 October Her work is shown in the group exhibition Live Your Questions Now, Mackintosh Museum, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow. 2012 25 October 31 March 2013 Her work is shown in the exhibition Od Tiziana po Warhola: Muzeum umění Olomouc 1951 2011 [From Titian to Warhol: Olomouc Museum of Art 1951 2011], Muzeum umění Olomouc, Olomouc. 6 December 3 March 2013 Her work is shown in the group exhibition Element F: Fotografie a umění ve druhé polovině 20. století [The Ph Factor: Photography and Fine Art in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century] at Moravská galerie v Brně, Brno. 2013 31 January 7 April Retrospective exhibition at Raven Row, London. 2010 5 March 2 May Solo exhibition Běla Kolářová at Galerie Fotografie Louvre, Prague. 12 April Běla Kolářová dies in Prague. 20 May 25 July Her work is shown in the group exhibition Unto This Last at Raven Row, London. 112