František „Čuňas" Stárek Collection

The Czechoslovak computer culture of the 1980s is especially associated with the activities of hobbyists and computer clubs. These activities were state-supported, tolerated, or at least ignored; however, personal computers also reached those who were actively persecuted by the regime. Among them was the editorial office of the magazine Vokno, particularly the informal group "samizdat research institute", consisting of programmers Jiří Včelák and Pavel Lašák and the editor-in-chief of Vokno, František "Čuňas" Stárek. (Gaming the Iron Curtain, Jaroslav Švelch, 2021)

Stárek, Lašák, and Včelák were owners of the ZX Spectrum personal computer, which they used from the mid-1980s primarily to create stencil templates that simplified the printing of the samizdat magazine. The computer was also used for the creation of graphics for the Videomagazín Vokna, which was distributed from 1988 on videotapes. Stárek also used the Spectrum as a form of secure storage for the sensitive database of Vokno subscribers – he wrote the names of subscribers in D-Text, saved this data to tape, and hid the beeping signal among musical tracks. The "research institute" also had ambitions to develop a program that could be compared to modern e-readers. The program, called Kniha (Book), was developed by the "institute" at the end of the 1980s for the purpose of disseminating samizdat literature; however, due to Stárek's imprisonment in 1989 and the Velvet Revolution, no content was ever created for the program, and it was never published. (Gaming the Iron Curtain, Jaroslav Švelch, 2021)

In 2024, the Game Archive received František Stárek's ZX Spectrum program tapes from Jaroslav Švelch for the purpose of digitization. From these tapes, in addition to creations from others, it was possible to digitize the program Kniha (Book), graphics for Videomagazín Vokno, files with the addresses of Vokno subscribers, and a program for their printing. The content of some of the tapes, as well as the interview with František Stárek, was published in 2025.

Archive of original programs

Zde můžete stáhnout vybrané programy od kolektivu samizdatového časopisu Vokno. Archiv obsahuje program Kniha a k němu doprovodný program K-Úvod, program na tisk adres, program na tisk a kopírování screen filů a několik animací a obrázků vyrobených zejména pro Videomagazín Vokna.

Interviews

Interview with František „Čuňas“ Stárek

František „Čuňas“ Stárek, born in 1952, was a dissident, a signatory of Charter 77, and a leading figure of the Czechoslovak underground. In 1979, he co-founded the cultural samizdat periodical Vokno. Together with colleagues Pavel Lašák and Jiří Včelák, they established a 'samizdat research institute', where they experimented with new technologies, including 8-bit microcomputers. After the revolution, he worked at BIS and currently works at ÚSTR.

Date: 5. 1. 2016 • Length: 0:51:00

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