Performance artist Milan Knížák dies: The inventor of 'Broken Music'

Czech performance artist Milan Knížák has died at age 86, as announced by Culture Minister Oto Klempir. Knížák was a key figure in the Czech art scene, active in the underground during the socialist era and a representative of the Fluxus movement. He invented 'Broken Music' in 1965, a practice of breaking, burning, or scratching records and reassembling them. After the 1989 revolution, he served as rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and later as director of the Prague National Gallery (1999-2011), where his authoritarian leadership style and ban on international loans drew criticism. His works were exhibited in Germany, France, the USA, and Japan. He received the Czech Medal of Merit in 2010.