Exhibition of paintings by Otto Placht inspired by the mystical stories and contemporary life of the Shipibo Amazonian Indian tribe.

Otto Placht (*1962 Prague) is an artist known to the Czech public primarily as a “painter of the jungle”. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s and from 1990 to 1993 was active at Jiří Načeradský’s Studio of Monumental Creation.

An evening dedicated to Salon, the cultural and literary supplement of the newspaper Právo. Novelist Emil Hakl will read a short story he wrote for Salon’s literary and humanitarian series “Short Story for Adra”, the writer Kateřina Tučková and supplement’s editor Zbyněk Vlasák will recall the non-traditional launch of her novel Žítkovské bohyně (The Goddesses of Žítková) in the village of Žítková, a short story by novelist and editor Štěpán Kučera will receive a staged reading and the critic Štěpán Švec will present his acerbic columns.

And can altruism be inappropriate? Destructive? Unbearable? Can good be aggressive? And sympathy merciless? And what should one do if one meets a wounded animal? Tomáš Weisse will read from his own rich texts and introduce Ivana Myšková, author of the prose debut Nícení (Fra 2012).

The Czech Underground is a series of lectures organised by the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library. Its aim is to explore the collective memory of the underground phenomenon in modern Czech history. Speakers will include those who were directly involved in underground activities.

A meeting with Vladimir Bukovsky, a dissident and human rights campaigner who spent many years in Soviet Gulag camps and psychiatric institutions. And the Wind Returns (published in Czech as A vítr se vrací by Volvox Globator, 2012) is his best-known work, a wild chronicle of a period of resistance, samizdat, trials and imprisonment. The evening is being held in cooperation with Volvox Globator and the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes.

The Václav Havel Library is taking part in the third Ostrava Book Fair.

Presentation of the Václav Havel Library at the third Ostrava Book Fair, including readings of excerpts from some of the Library’s recently published titles.

Journalist Tomáš Němeček (Lidové noviny), former human rights minister Michael Kocáb, former supreme state attorney Renáta Vesecká and musician Mikuláš Chadima will discuss expectations of the new Czech head of state. The debate will be chaired by political scientist Jiří Pehe.

Opening of an exhibition composed of the most interesting visual poems from Václav Havel’sAnticodes. The Václav Havel Library is putting on the show in cooperation with the National Theatre on the occasion of the publication of a newly expanded edition of the Anticodes collection and the premiere of a theatrical production of Anticodes by the Laterna Magika ensemble at the New Stage.

The exhibition runs until 7 April 2013.

Between 1959 and 1968, Václav Havel worked in various positions with Prague municipal theatres and the Theatre on the Balustrade. Working alongside such figures as Alfréd Radok and Jan Grossman influenced his development and views on theatre. The third VHL film marathon focuses on how contemporary film and TV crews recorded these ensembles and individuals.

Screenings:

Král Ubu (Pere Ubu, Z. Kubeček, 1964 version, 116 min),

Alfréd Radok (A. Kisil, 2000, 57 min),

Hra o lásce a smrti  (A Play About Love and Death) (A. Radok, 1964, 40 min)

Special guest: Vladimír Just

An exhibition composed of the most interesting visual poems from Václav Havel’s Anticodes. The Václav Havel Library is putting on the show in cooperation with the National Theatre on the occasion of the publication of a newly expanded edition of the Anticodes collection and the premiere of a theatrical production of Anticodes by the Laterna Magika ensemble at the New Stage.

The exhibition runs until 7 April 2013.

Novelist Emil Hakl will discuss his freshly published work Skutečná událost (A True Story), in which the story in question involves the Red Army Faction’s terror in Germany in the autumn of 1978; an overheating boiler in contemporary Prague; and relations of a romantic nature. Emil Hakl: “It is questionable if kidnappings and killings are the happiest solution. As a discriminating individual I add that they’re not.”

This lively literary evening will take place in cooperation with the Argo publishing house.

Is the mission of teachers “merely” to teach their subject or also to actively contribute to the shaping of the personality of young people and their moral and civic outlook? Do teachers have the “right” to speak about topical social and political events? How should they communicate their views with fellow citizens and their pupils? Where is the border between, on one hand, efforts to orient students with regard to society and politics and to lead them to a critical perspective and, on the other, willful political agitation? These questions will be aired in an afternoon discussion organised by Ostrava’s PANT association, which runs the Moderní-Dějiny.cz (modern history) website, in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library and the NGO People in Need.

Debate on current affairs with editors from the weekly Respekt.

The Czech Underground is a series of lectures organised by the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University in cooperation with the Václav Havel Library. Its aim is to explore the collective memory of the underground phenomenon in modern Czech history. Speakers will include those who were directly involved in underground activities.

Zuzana Li presents a new series of modern Chinese literature issued by the Verzone publishing house under the title XIN. She will debate contemporary Chinese literature, ideological criteria and the joys and pitfalls of translation into Czech with academic Dušan Andrš and translator Denis Molčanov. There will also be readings from the works of novelists Eileen Chang, Jen Lian-ke and Šen Cchung-wen.

An evening dedicated to Josef Kocourek (1909–1933), an eccentric, intense and charismatic writer and teacher whose death occurred on the last day of March 80 years ago. Editor Michal Jareš and visual artist Vít Ondráček will discuss Kocourek’s life and work, while David Steigerwald will read excerpts from his works. Jaromír Typlt will host the evening.

Premiere of an production based on the motifs of Václav Havel visual poems by the Laterna magika ensemble.

Video form the preparation of the performance.

Bratislava literary club and Milan Hamada.

Milan Hamada, a recipient of the Dominik Tatarka Prize, is among the most important figures in Slovak literature. He recently saw the publication of volume one of the four-volume work Kritické komentáře (Critical Commentaries) bringing together his essays, articles and interviews and creating a comprehensive portrait of the brilliance of this literary academic.

Jan Bačkovský (born 1957, Hradec Králové) is a member of the generation of painters of the 1980s and exhibited in Confrontation group shows. Between 1979 and 1985, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in the studio of monumental art under Professor Arnošt Paderlík. He originally focused on figural painting, before gradually switching to the abstract expression that he devotes himself to today.

Opening of an exhibition of paintings by Jan Bačkovský. The evening will include a reading by poet Ticho.

The Litera civic association presents readings by authors nominated in several categories in this year’s Magnesia Litera book awards at the Václav Havel Library. Three or four writers from various categories will take in every reading.