Events: September 2016
August 2016
October 2016
Martin Nekola: Czechoslovak Exiles After 1948
September 8, 2016, 19:00
The world of exiles after 1948 and the fates of Czechoslovaks who strove to return freedom and democracy to a homeland where power had been seized by the Communists are an essential part of our modern history. However, there is marginal research into the subject and the public has no more than fragmentary information about it. More
China: One Country, Two Faces
September 8, 2016, 17:30
Meeting with beauty pageant titleholder and human rights advocate Anastasia Lin. In 2015 Lin won the Miss World Canada title and was to represent Canada at the Miss World pageant in China. However, she was refused a visa and declared persona non grata by the Chinese authorities for her outspoken views on the country’s human rights violations and persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. More
The Chinese Cultural Revolution After 50 Years
September 12, 2016, 19:00
This year marks half a century since the unleashing of the so-called Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China. In its time the radical campaign, today officially dubbed the “10 years of chaos” (1966–1976) in China itself, spoke to millions of participants and had a great many ideological fellow travellers in the West and the developing world. Its impact and influence are still apparent to this day. Sinologists Olga Lomová and Martin Hála will discuss the essence and legacy of this mass campaign. More
Evenings with Polish Reporters IV: Romanies, or Gypsies?
September 14, 2016, 19:00
In post-communist countries the Romany minority face constant discrimination and social exclusion. At the same time they are divided by disputes over their own identity, their traditional culture is subject to external interference and an educated Romany elite is only slowly emerging. The situation of the Roma in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and other European countries will be discussed by reporter Lidia Ostałowska and journalist and Roma Studies expert Saša Uhlová. More
Svatava Antošová: Performance
September 15, 2016, 19:00
Evening dedicated to the Teplice poet, prose writer and journalist Svatava Antošová. More
Public Discussion with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky
September 16, 2016, 17:00
Public discussion with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky on current issues, including the recent events in Turkey, Brexit and the future of the EU, the refugee crisis, energy and climate change. More
Whose Media, Whose Interests? Ownership, Public Sphere and Online Space
September 18, 2016, 09:30 Conferences
The aim of the conference is to critically reflect upon some of the main issues which currently surround debates about the performance of media in the Czech Republic and Central Europe in general, namely the changing models of media ownership, the independence of public service broadcasting, as well as the spreading of disinformation and propaganda via the social network sites. More
Zafer Senocak: Between Two Worlds
September 19, 2016, 19:00
Zafer Senocak is a renowned German poet of Turkish origin whose creative language also straddles two worlds. In his essays and media work he explores the situation of several generations of migrants living in Europe and the concepts of home and borders. More
Václav Benda – Politician
September 21, 2016, 19:00
Evening dedicated to what would have been the 70th birthday of Václav Benda, a Catholic, right-wing politician, Charter 77 spokesman and founder and first chairman of the Christian Democratic Party.
Without František Janouch Even the Sea Doesn’t Slosh
September 22, 2016, 18:00
Bez Františka Janoucha ani moře nešplouchá (Without František Janouch Even the Sea Doesn’t Slosh) is the title of a new book, subtitled Mozaika výpovědi svědků jednoho neobyčejného života (A Mosaic of Testimonies of Witnesses to One Extraordinary Life), being presented at the Václav Havel Library on the occasion of the 85th birthday of František Janouch. A nuclear physicist after emigrating to Sweden Janouch set up the Charter 77 Foundation, which sent funds to help local dissidents in Czechoslovakia. Post-1989 he succeeded in finding a new role for the foundation, with the Barriers Account becoming one of the most significant Czech charity organisations. More
Jiří Dědeček: Ballads from the Banking Sector
September 26, 2016, 19:00
The poet and songwriter will read from his forthcoming tragicomic collection Balady z bankovního sektoru (Ballads from the Banking Sector). In addition he will perform a number of songs and chansons (including his own translations of Jacques Brel, Georges Brassens and Boris Vian). That will be followed by a reading from the legendary book Oběžník (Circular), which first came out in Munich in 1988 and was most recently issued by the publishers Limonádový Joe. More
Andrej “Bandy” Šoltes: My Uzzhorod
September 27, 2016, 19:00
The Ukrainian writer Andrej Šoltes introduces his home city, whose history is bound to the fate of several generations of his ancestors who – though they never left Uzzhorod – were citizens of five different states. They survived WWII, endured prison and the camps as Soviet citizens and would rather not discuss the past… More
Václav Vacek: Are Western, Christian Values in Ruins?
September 29, 2016, 19:00
Do we know them? Don’t they appeal to us? Do we live by different ones? Are we abandoning them? Are we foreigners in our own culture? Evening with the Roman Catholic priest and writer, who was once active in the dissent and Charter 77 circles and ranks amongst the most progressive voices in the contemporary church.
