Events: April 2017
March 2017
May 2017
On the Roots of the Questioning of Liberal Democracy
April 4, 2017, 19:00
Criticism of human rights – the genealogy of democratic scepticism. More
Václav Havel: Protest
April 6, 2017, 19:00
To sign or not to sign? This was a fiendish question that the writers of dramatic works frequently faced. This lesser known one-act Vaněk play from 1978 on a still topical issue will be performed by Havel’s “court” theatre, Divadlo na tahu; it has been staging his plays since 1975 when it put on a “scandalous” production of The Beggar’s Opera in Horní Počernice. More
Karel Hvížďala: A Long-Dead Granddad
April 10, 2017, 19:00
Karel Hvížďala’s second book of essays Dávno Mrtvý Dědeček (A Long-Dead Granddad) loosely follows on from his previous Osmý den týdne (Eighth Day of the Week). Within its pages major figures of Czech society in the 20th century come to life: painters Jan Zrzavý and Antonín Pelc, novelist Viktor Fischl, cartoonist Vladimír Jiránek, photographers Oldřich Škácha and Josef Koudelka and man of the theatre and poet Jiří Suchý. More
Miloš Bondy: What the Smoke Blew Away, or How I Survived the Holocaust
April 12, 2017, 19:00
Today aged 93, doctor Miloš Bondy came from a Prague Jewish family. In WWII he was sent with his whole family on a transport to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps, where both his parents perished. Miloš Bondy survived selection for the gas chambers, monstrous medical experiments and spells at other camps (Sachsenhausen, Ohrdruf and Buchenwald). Following a death march he was liberated at Eisenach in Germany. More
Staying Alive. A Souvislost Review Evening
April 19, 2017, 18:30
“A dead poet does not write. Whence the importance of remaining alive,” writes Houellebecq. The Souvislost review is focused on similar questions. Was the magazine alive in last year’s editions? Is its current form also alive? Or is it recycling its own tradition and merely surviving? Who should read Souvislost today, and why? More
The Fall into Europe – An Evening Marking the 80th Anniversary of Jiří Dienstbier’s Birth
April 20, 2017, 19:00
A discussion focused on how the one-time journalist, stoker, Charter 77 signatory and political prisoner set about realising his dream of Europe as democratic Czechoslovakia’s first minister of foreign affairs. More
Václav Jamek: In This World
April 24, 2017, 19:00
Reading by Václav Jamek, the bilingual poet, critic, essayist and translator from French who lives between two countries. More
Islam and Philosophy
April 25, 2017, 19:00
How to understand contemporary Islam? Relations between philosophy and Islam and the issue of how the philosophical and intellectual histories of Muslim countries are reflected in contemporary Muslim society will be discussed by the professors Ali Benmakhlouf and Eric Linn Ormsby. More
Wittgenstein’s Book of Facts
April 26, 2017, 19:00
Ladislav Čumba’s literary text explores with perspective the story of Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century. The son of a Kladno steelmaker, one of the richest people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose mother Poldi is still remembered by some residents of Kladno, he turned his back on that enormous wealth. He became a gardener and, after a colourful journey, a philosophy teacher at Cambridge. More
Milena Jesenská: Crossroads
April 27, 2017, 19:00
This extensive anthology of Milena Jesenská’s journalism from the period 1919–1939 entitled Křižovatky (Crossroads) will be introduced by Petr Pithart. Literary historian Marie Jirásková will discuss her editorial work on the publication, which took over four years, while family recollections will be shared by Prof. Anna Housková, granddaughter of Milena’s lifelong close friend Staša Jílovská.
Fedor Gál: Across Fences
April 28, 2017, 19:00
More than 10 years ago an email dialogue began between two men whose life stories could hardly appear more different. The sociologist, politician and dissident Fedor Gál, convinced that dialogue is necessary in all circumstances, corresponds with the National Socialist Matej, who remains in anonymity. What happens in the lives of the actors and how do their opinions and views shift across dozens of clicks of the “send” button? Ceremonial launch of unorthodox correspondence issued by the Větrné mlýny publishing house.