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Events: March 2024 RSS

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1989: We Want to Breathe – A Film by Karel Strachota 
March 4, 2024, 19:00

The story of Pavel and Renata mainly takes place in Teplice. They wish to live freely, in accordance with their ideals. However, the repressive Communist regime – for whom they represent "defective youth" – meddles in their lives. Teplice, a once beautiful spa town nicknamed Little Paris, is devastated, as is the entire north-western industrial border region often shrouded in thick smog. However, it is also a bastion of punk and alternative culture. The documentary, based on archival footage and period materials, is a mosaic of authentic situations, while the protagonists are based on real individuals. The film culminates with the demonstrations against catastrophic environmental pollution that began in Teplice a week before 17 November 1989 – and turned into political protests. So the Velvet Revolution kind of started in the North: people wanted to breathe. More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Debate N: A Super-Election Year in Czech Politics 
March 5, 2024, 19:00  

2024 could change the political architecture of the entire West. The USA and the European Union are facing crucial elections, with the Czechs also set to vote in the European ones. How much can divergent electoral strategies split the governing coalition, and what could change after European Parliament, regional and Senate elections in the Czech Republic? To what extent could the outcome of this year’s triple elections influence the crucial elections to the Chamber of Deputies next year? Deník N editor Markéta Boubínová will chair a debate with guests.

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Ukraine as Task 
March 7, 2024, 19:00

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

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Debate with Respekt 
March 12, 2024, 19:00  

Discussion featuring editors from the weekly Respekt and their guess. For more details and the names of guests visit www.vaclavhavel.cz prior to the event.

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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The Free Academy: Vladimír Just on Theatre 
March 14, 2024, 19:00  

Today do Havel’s plays and essays belong in academic collections – or on the theatrical stage and the stage of life? More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Fedor Gál: Post Mortem 
March 15, 2024, 19:00

​Presentation of the book Post Mortem, the fruit of a collaboration between Fedor Gál and photographer Miro Švolík. More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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In Conversation With... Bert Koenders 
March 18, 2024, 19:00

A discussion on the enduring legacy of Max van der Stoel and the pivotal role of dissidents in shaping democracy in the 21st century. Max van der Stoel's historic meeting with Jan Patočka, the philosopher and spokesperson for Charter 77, marked a significant milestone in the struggle for human rights and political freedoms. As the first Western minister to engage with Charter 77, van der Stoel's courageous act paved the way for international recognition of dissident movements. Against the backdrop of this historic encounter, esteemed speaker Bert Koenders, Chair of the Max van der Stoel Foundation and former Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, will lead a conversation on the challenges and opportunities facing democracy today together with professor emeritus at the University of Fribourg Filip Karfík. Professor Karfík studied philosophy in a private circle of Jan Patočka’s students, classical philology studied in Prague and Vienna (1985-1991), postgraduate studies in Paris, Eichstätt and Munich (1992-1993), PhD in philosophy obtained at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague (1996), habilitation achieved in philosophy (2004). More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 

Upcomming events

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The Garden Party, or If You Lie Down With Dogs, You Get Up With Fleas 
March 19, 2024, 19:00

A stage reading with students of the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the DAMU theatre school More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Eva Turnová: New Book Presentation 
March 20, 2024, 19:00

Hana Halfarová will introduce a literary musical performance by the writer, musician and performer Eva Turnová on the occasion of the publication of her new book V zimě se u nás netopýr (Our Place is Cold as a Bat in Winter). Jáchym Topol will deliver the opening words.

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Josef Čapek: Nothing Incomprehensible, Nothing Untrue 
March 21, 2024, 19:00

The artist and writer Josef Čapek (1887-1945) is one of the most important figures in Czech modern avant-garde art. Alongside his collaboration with his brother Karel, his own independent work is also important. His oeuvre ranged from fine art and literature to theatre and stage design. After Hitler came to power, Josef Čapek reacted to the new political situation, publishing drawings from a series entitled In the Shadow of Fascism and making his opposition to the Nazi regime clear. On 1 September 1939 he was arrested by the Gestapo and imprisoned. Throughout the war he passed through a number of concentration camps. All indications are that he died shortly before the liberation of Bergen-Belsen. More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Launch of Daniela Šafránková’s Beyond the Line 
March 22, 2024, 19:00

Author’s Daniela Šafránková’s fourth novel Za čárou (Beyond the Line) focuses on Czech-German relations. One night the protagonist Miloš, a bricklayer living in a small village near the German border, finds himself by pure chance on the other side of the frontier. In a West German village in the autumn of 1989. Through his adventures on both the Czech and German sides, we are reminded of the last pathetic glimpses of Communist rule, and we experience with him the exciting and unexpected atmosphere of the autumn of 1989. Czech Television editor Martin Řezníček will serve as host while the Bavarian band Udu Git Uku Ba will perform. More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Protecting the safety of journalists. Evenings with Radio Free Europe 
March 25, 2024, 19:00

Press freedom and independent media are increasingly under pressure. Currently, according to Reporters Without Borders, almost 500 journalists are behind bars for simply doing their jobs and journalists around the world work under constant threat to their personal safety and often to the safety of their families too. Free media are a cornerstone of fair and democratic societies. Independent journalism serves as an indicator of democracy and enables citizens to make informed decisions about their lives. Join the Václav Havel Library and Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty for a discussion on the safety of journalists at a time when a record number of journalists are imprisoned and facing increasing physical and online harassment.  More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Theatre Diagnosis: Discipline 
March 26, 2024, 19:00

Honza Juránek, a student of the Department of Theory and Criticism at DAMU, and moderator and actress Adéla Zahradníčková (Debut theatre company, Radio Blaník) will launch open discuss cycle on the discipline of acting. What is taught in acting schools? How does it work in practice? How do you find an approach to acting that fits you? And is there room for non-actors in the theatre today? Thus the first episode is entitled Diagnosis #1: Discipline.

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Magnesia Litera I 
March 27, 2024, 19:00

Four authors nominated in fiction categories in the annual Magnesia Litera book awards will read from their works. Moderated by Pavel Mandys.

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  | 
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Circus ÚSTR: Art and Historical Memory in the Public Space 
March 28, 2024, 19:00

While the 20th century was the “golden age” of the installation and removal of monuments, statues and memorial plaques, as well as the renaming of streets and squares, the present day is characterised by a groping for stagings of historical memory in the public space. In the Czech Republic, this concerns primarily the “culture of remembering" in relation to Communist totalitarianism and Soviet-Russian imperial domination, although it applies in general. What might the presence of memory traces in the public space, produced via culture and art, look like today? More

Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00  |  ico  |