Events: April 2018
March 2018
May 2018
Michal Macháček: Husák
April 3, 2018, 19:00
The name Gustáv Husák (1913–1991) is most closely associated with the period of so-called normalisation in the 1970s and 1980s, when a generation of “Husák’s children” were born. A new biography of Husák by Michal Macháček traces the long career of the final president of Communist Czechoslovakia from the very beginnings, exploring Husák’s origins and family background, youth, studies and enrolment in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, his activities in the war, the Slovak National Uprising and post-war politics, his conviction in a trial of Slovak “bourgeois nationalists”, his successful efforts at rehabilitation and his gradual return to the echelons of power. The book also delivers new findings about Husák’s personal life. In Macháček’s book this symbol of torpor and stagnation comes across as a more multi-layered personality than the common perception. More
Olivier Guez: The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele
April 5, 2018, 19:00
Meeting with the French writer and journalist Olivier Guez, who won the prestigious Prix Renaudot last year for his novel The Disappearance of Joseph Mengele, a compelling exploration of the soul and life of the infamous “Angel of Death” following his escape to South America. More
Aleš Palán and Jan Šibík: The Wilderness is the Best Place to Go Crazy
April 6, 2018, 19:00
Raději zešílet v divočině (The Wilderness is the Best Place to Go Crazy) is a book about recluses living in the Šumava. Some have built a shack in the forest, others live in caravans or in mountain solitude. Some can be reached by car, others on foot only. They are Šumava pilgrims and loners whose attitudes and lives are totally out of the ordinary. More
Jiří Křižan: The Shadow
April 9, 2018, 19:00
Jiří Křižan’s novel Stín (The Shadow) is the powerfully autobiographical story of an orphaned country boy raised by his old-world, fair-minded grandfather interspersed with “half-witted” tales from alternative military service. It is a narrative that evokes an almost physical sense of what it is like to grow up on the margins of society as a stigmatised “class enemy” and second-class “former person” due to political tyranny. More
Debate with Respekt
April 10, 2018, 19:00
Discussion with Respekt editors and their guests on a topical issue. More information will be posted at least one week before the event at www.vaclavhavel-library.org
Remembering 1918: Turning point for Europe
April 11, 2018, 16:30 Participation on local events
Free entrance. Registration required. What is the meaning of 1918 for today’s European politics and societies? What is the role of this history in envisioning Europe of the 21st century? Historians, journalists, teachers and other speakers from 7 European countries will compare their perspectives and discuss the contemporary relevance of 1918, especially with regard to the interpretations ascribed to 1918 throughout the 20th century. The debate should result in a better understanding of the 1918 and its aftermath as seen from Western and Central European perspective and how this perception shapes today’s views, how the interpretation of history varies in countries and what possible impact it has on politics among the countries in the EU. The debate is organized in cooperation with Czech Centres, Václav Havel Library, BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Finnish Institute for the Benelux, Culture Action Europe, and EUNIC Prague, Austrian Cultural Forum, Slovak Institute and Polish Institute Prague. The debate will be held in English with simultaneous translation into Czech. 16:30 Opening speeches Václav Havel Library and Czech Centres representatives 17:00 – 18:30 Understanding of the year 1918 in “old” and “new” states Understanding of the events in 1918 by the former empires and the new nations - do the differences still prevail? Do we feel nostalgia, satisfaction, bitterness, indifference…? And what does the mythology of 1918 mean for the future of Europe? Does it – and if yes, how - influence today’s politics and societies? Moderator: Adéla Gjuričová, historian Speakers: Hungary - György Csepeli, social psychologist / Slovakia - Miroslav Michela, historian / Austria - Christophe Prantner, journalist / Czech Republic - Jan Hanzlík, historian 18:30 – 19:00 Break 19:00 -20:30 Understanding of the year 1918 in Western and Central Europe Are there differences in understanding the 1918 between Western and Central Europe? If so, what are they and how are they reflected in different approaches to today’s reality? Is the year 1918 also perceived as the year of emergence of new states in Western Europe? How was the breakdown of old empires viewed in Belgium and Finland? Moderator: Pavlína Kvapilová, journalist Speakers: Belgium - Machteld Venken, associate professor at University Vienna / Finland – Kalle Kallio, director of the Finnish Labour Museum Werstas / Czech Republic – Václav Kuneš, history teacher / Poland - Lukasz Jasina, historian The event is part of a larger project initiated by BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Belgium entitled “1918 EUROPEAN DREAMS OF MODERNITY 100 YEARS ON” and supported by the Europe for Citizens program. The project includes two debates in Brussels and one debate in Helsinki and another debate in Budapest on the similar topic of today’s perception of the year 1918. For more information about the project, please visit: https://www.bozar.be/en/activities/137924-1918-european-dreams-of-modernity Accompannying event of the conference is a series of film screenings about the year 1918 organized in cooperation with EUNIC Prague, for more information please visit: www.facebook.com/events/196896901076314/ More
The Increased Difficulty of Concentration on Spring 1968
April 12, 2018, 19:00
Fifty years ago, on 11 April 1968, the last premiere for some time of a play by Václav Havel, The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, took place at the Divadlo Na zábradlí theatre. In this evening we will explore several seemingly different themes of that 1968 spring. Names from the “golden era” of the famous theatre are leaving Divadlo Na zábradlí. During the Prague Spring, Václav Havel becomes involved – in his own way, of course – in the process of democratisation. At the same time, however, he packs his suitcase for a trip to the US and Western Europe. What’s more, his creative plans start to focus more on filmmaking. More
American Spring Festival at Václav Havel Library
16/04/18 – 19/04/18
The international festival American Spring is a unique arts project that has been running for 13 years and showcases emerging American and Czech artists. The festival’s programme comprises classical and jazz concerts, public debates, exhibitions, theatre performances and film screenings in which artists and personalities from various other fields appear together. It is organised by the Institute for Czech-American Relations, which in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library has prepared a four-day accompanying programme focused on current themes in Czech-American relations and commemorating important figures associated with the 100th anniversary of the creation of Czechoslovakia. More
NaVýchod Magazine: Debate with Petra Procházková
April 23, 2018, 19:00
For the second year, the revived NaVýchod magazine is focused on arts and political events to the east of the Czech Republic, a region that in recent years has seen ethnic and military conflicts: Russian aggression in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea, the “freezing” of Transnistria, unceasing tensions in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the wars in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. More
Šenkyřík, Jirous, Vtípil: And also fleas
April 24, 2018, 19:00
The poems of Ivan Martin Jirous, in which hyenas, jackals and werewolves appear alongside angels and the Virgin Mary, were set to music by Tomáš Šenkýřík over a period of 15 years. More
Polish-Czechoslovak Solidarity
April 25, 2018, 19:00
Meetings in forests on the guarded Polish-Czechoslovak border. Shared interest in the fates of the political prisoners of both Communist states. The exchange of samizdat publications and information. The phenomenon of Polish-Czechoslovak solidarity brings together courage, friendship and sense of humour. The new Czech translation of the book Hranicím navzdory. Příběh Polsko-československé solidarity (Despite the Border: The Story of Polish-Czechoslovak Solidarity) (ÚSTR, Prague 2018) will be launched by its authors, Łukasz Kamiński, a Polish historian and former director of Poland’s Institute of National Rembembrance, and Petr Blažek, a Czech historian based at the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, and many Poles and Czechs who remember those times. More
The Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted
April 26, 2018, 17:00
A gathering marking the 40th anniversary of its foundation. More
Daniel Cohn-Bendit: De l'Europe des contestations à l'Europe des peurs?
April 27, 2018, 20:00
Débat en français, traduction simultanée assurée. Entre libre, réservation obligatoire sur cette formulaire. Daniel Cohn-Bendit est un homme politique franco-allemand, acteur de la contestation étudiante de mai 1968. Il a été coprésident du groupe Verts/ALE au Parlement européen et coprésident du Groupe Spinelli, crée afin de renforcer la tendance fédéraliste au Parlement européen. More