Bohemian

Definition

• living in a very informal way without following accepted rules of behaviour, and often involved in the arts

• a person—typically an artist, writer, or intellectual—who lives an unconventional, free-spirited lifestyle

• a person who is interested in artistic and unusual things, for example art, music, or literature, and lives in an informal way that ignores the usually accepted ways of behaving

History and origin

The term has a fascinating history rooted in a geographic misconception: The Romani Connection: In early 19th-century France, “bohémien” was a common French term for Romani people.

The French mistakenly believed the Romani originated from Bohemia (a region in the modern-day Czech Republic).

The Artistic Shift: Because the Romani led nomadic, marginalized, and impoverished lives, French writers and artists began comparing their own rejection of mainstream bourgeois society to the Romani lifestyle. By the mid-1850s, the term evolved to specifically describe artists, poets, and radicals who lived informal, often penniless, but culturally rich lives

(from several online sources)

Collins Dictionary

• Bohemian means belonging or relating to Bohemia or its people

Bohemia

Bohemia, historical country of central Europe that was a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire and subsequently a province in the Habsburgs’ Austrian Empire. Bohemia was bounded on the south by Austria, on the west by Bavaria, on the north by Saxony and Lusatia, on the northeast by Silesia, and on the east by Moravia. From 1918 to 1939 and from 1945 to 1992, it was part of Czechoslovakia, and since 1993 it has formed much of the Czech Republic.

Bohemia in Europe

Bohemia in Czech Republic

(from wikipedia)

Bohemia

: a community of bohemians : the world of bohemians

Bohemian Style

The artistic and carefree ethos of bohemians eventually spilled over into interior design and fashion. “Boho” style is characterized by earthy, natural materials, vibrant colors, flowing fabrics, vintage pieces, and a globally inspired aesthetic rather than rigid, modern minimalism

(from several online sources)

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I was in Praha this year and tried to figure out about Bohemia. The capital is inside the region, but I didn’t reach very far, of course in the short time of one week, about the peculiarities of this part of the world.

Bohemian glass is very well known though, and I visited a couple of specialized stores.

Bohemian glass work

I actually feel bohemian in some ways, and I decided to restart my page in this site.

But, what’s actually to be bohemian?

Let’s try to get some clue from my photographs in Prague

Is this bohemian?

or, is this bohemian?, …see the couple in love at the end

or, hey, perhaps this is bohemian?

hmm, or this?, is that bohemian?

or, yep, I think that could be … bohemian

or this?

or, … that other?

or, maybe that?

…or finally, is it just that?

So, what’s actually bohemian?

P.S. to say here, with respect to all the previous, that I found with pleasure a kind of, how to say, rebel, revolutionary or perhaps that called in art dada in the streets and atmosphere of Prague. And that, I believe, is truly bohemian