In his book Sázka na svobodu (A Bet on Freedom), Jiří Přibáň criticizes moral fundamentalism, seeing it as something that ignites passions and sparks political violence and social destruction. At the same time, however, he rejects moral relativism or cynicism and contrasts moral absolutism with the possibility of an ethical life as something that, although it puts our existence on the line, simultaneously gives it meaning. He sees ethics as a defence against the seduction of absolutism and totalitarianism offered by moralists. Věra Jourová, Jacques Rupnik, Petr Zelenka and Josefína Formanová will take part in the discussion, while Karel Hvížďala will serve as host for the evening.

Bohumil “Bob” Krčil, a photographer, adventurer and legendary figure in Czech exile culture, left behind an authentic life story shaped by an unwavering determination to live without compromise in a world divided by the Iron Curtain. After leaving Czechoslovakia in 1969, the 17-year-old Krčil spent time in an alternative community in the south of France, living in a village with Tunisian Bedouins and documenting the ancient hashish culture of the north Indian Kullu Valley. With a sense of impending disaster, he created a unique photographic testimony to the millennia-old culture of Herat, Afghanistan, a few months before it was destroyed by Soviet airstrikes in 1979. His base of operations was New York, where he produced two extensive samizdat collections, Sebráno v New Yorku (Collected in New York), to showcase the vibrant and creative Czechoslovak community. On the basis of dozens of interviews with Krčil’s contemporaries and a vast amount of collected documents, Jan Douša has compiled Bob Krčil. Žít, jako by šlo o život (Bob Krčil: Live Like Your Life’s On the Line), a well-informed and readable biography of Krčil, which is set to represent one of the missing pieces in the mosaic of our knowledge of 20th century Czech culture.

A discussion forum with Rostislav Prokopjuk on Ukraine’s past, present and future.

Belgian developer Serge Borenstein moved to Prague after the Velvet Revolution and since then has done a great deal to shape the city that we know today. His Karlín Group played a key role in the revitalisation of the district of that name, helping turn Karlín into one of Prague’s liveliest and most desirable business and residential neighbourhoods. In this edition of In Conversation With... Mr. Borenstein will discuss his rich experiences in Prague, the overall quality of development in the city in recent decades – and where he sees the Czech capital going in construction terms in the coming years. Ian Willoughby of Radio Prague International will host the talk. In Conversation With… is a series of occasional talks in English at the Václav Havel Library.

Introducing new titles by Pavel Hošek and Martin C. Putna

Presentation of a comprehensive new book published by the Museum of Memory of the 20th Century. Its main theme is the diverse relations that the writer and philosopher Zbyněk Fišer had with the Communist-era secret police, the State Security (StB). Zbyněk Fišer used the pseudonym Egon Bondy from the late 1940s on. In four periods he was a collaborator of the StB under various code names: Klíma, Zbyněk, Mao and Oskar. From 1961 until 1989, he was intermittently, and successfully, deployed in a number of secret StB operations.

A discussion featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guests. For more details visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

At meetings of various kinds we often wish each other health and happiness. If we have them, we will live to a riper age. If most people in society have them, then society will grow old. However, we see this as a problem. We worry whether there will be enough money for pensions, and whether we should build more institutions for the elderly. We talk about “them” but it concerns us – us now, or us in the near or distant future. Why do we identify old age only with need and lack of self-sufficiency? Why do we not see the contribution older people make to society? What is a healthy old age, and why is the current Decade of Healthy Ageing scarcely talked about? What constitutes a productive old age? These and other questions related to the health and non-health of old age will be the subject of this talk.

Jiří Menzel will be remembered by his friends and colleagues – Czech and Croatian – as well as his nearest and dearest. At the close of the evening, H.E. Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Prague, Ljiljana Pancirov, will present Mrs. Olga Menzelová with the state decoration that was awarded to Jiří Menzel in memoriam by the President of the Republic of Croatia, Zoran Milanović.

Join us in welcoming Ukrajinské leporelo (Pop-Up Book of Ukraine), the latest photographic publication by photographer and reporter Andrej Bán, in which he captures current events in Ukraine. Ukraine has had to heroically face aggression from Russia for a number of years now, but that does not mean that everyday life in the country has stopped. Andrej Bán’s lens shows us what is alive beneath the onslaught of this war: human stories worth fighting for. The photographs are accompanied by several of the author’s texts of reportage. In addition to the author, Patrik Kaizr, Adéla Knapová, Petra Procházková, Pavel Pawluscha Novotný and others will take part. The evening will be moderated by Jáchym Topol.