Events: September 2015
August 2015
October 2015
Michael Žantovský: Havel, My Fate
September 8, 2015, 19:00
Meeting with the new director of the Václav Havel Library. Michael Žantovský – diplomat, translator, interpreter, psychologist, journalist, writer, lyricist politician and last but not least close friend and associate of Václav Havel – launches the VHL’s 2015/2016 “clubhouse” season with a reading from his successful biography Havel. More
J. G. Mendel – a Genius Known Everywhere but Here
September 9, 2015, 19:00
Another lecture in a series by Marek Orko Vácha. Modern biology is founded on two names, Darwin and Mendel, or perhaps that should be Mendel and Darwin. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Johann Gregor Mendel’s lectures in Brno. More
Piotr Macierzyński – Concentration Camp Poetry
September 10, 2015, 19:00
Presentation of a Czech translation and author’s reading from the collection Antologie esesáckých básní (Anthology of SS Poems). The Polish poet Piotr Macierzyński trod very thin ice but did not drown. In doing so, he answered the question of whether there are subjects that do not belong in poetry. More
Pre-Election Burma and the Challenges of Transition
September 14, 2015, 14:00
Do the upcoming elections in Burma present a true chance for the opposition to grasp power, or are they to be yet another travesty of democracy? More
Roger Scruton: Notes from Underground
September 14, 2015, 17:30
Evening with the British philosopher and writer Roger Scruton who, until his arrest by the StB and expulsion from Czechoslovakia in 1985, played a major role in the organisation of the era’s “underground university”. He later helped the Czechoslovak dissent via the Jan Hus Foundation in particular. More
Josef Rauvolf: Jirous and Fuchs – A Cross-border Affinity
September 16, 2015, 19:00
Though it seems impossible at first glance, the two poets, one Czech, the other (East) German, had much more in common than might be expected. Not only in their unwillingness to accept any kind of compromise, whether in the totalitarian period or after its fall, or in issues of moral integrity; Ivan M. Jirous and Jürgen Fuchs also shared a similar poetics.
Living Torches in Tibet
September 17, 2015, 19:00
The historical context of the longest wave of self-immolations In the last six years, 142 people have set themselves on fire in Tibet in protest against the Chinese occupation and the suppression of religious freedom. In a discussion evening we will present the book Sebeupalování v Tibetu (Self-immolation in Tibet) by the Tibetan poet Özer, which was published this year by the Czech PEN Club. Historian Petr Blažek and poet Vít Kremlička will serve as hosts.
Libor Fára 90
September 21, 2015, 19:00
A close friend of Václav Havel’s, the painter, graphic artist, scenographer and costume designer Libor Fára (1925–1988) would have celebrated his 90th birthday on 12 September 2015. More
Conference: Reflections on the Underground
September 22, 2015, 10:00 Conferences
They say the underground movement had as many forms as members. Despite persecution by the normalisation regime, the underground displayed unprecedented viability, bringing together disparate cultural and political activities. More
Debate with Respekt: How Czechs are (Not) Born
September 22, 2015, 19:00
What led to a de facto ban on home births? And how is the position of women as mothers changing in the Czech Republic? Confirmed guests: Ivana Königsmarková, Alena Gajdůšková, Petra Sovová and Bohuslav Svoboda. Chairman: journalist Tomáš Sacher.
Voices of Belarusian Freedom
September 23, 2015, 19:00
The Belarusian station of Radio Free Europe (Radio Liberty) has been based in Prague since 1995. The station, one of the most important Belarusian independent media outlets, has become a second home for many distinctive intellectuals – literati, historians, journalists, analysts, songwriters… More
All Tomorrow’s Parties Band
September 24, 2015, 19:00
Concert by a Prague tribute band to the legendary Velvet Underground. Admission CZK 50.
The Story of a Refugee: Europe of Dreams and Reality
September 30, 2015, 08:30 Conferences
Third annual conference linked to the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize International conference held in honour of Lyudmila Alexeyeva - the winner of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize - which focused this year on the wave of refugees from the Middle East and Northern Africa and the humanitarian and political problems that Europe and the international community is facing in this regard. More