Events: December 2011
November 2011
January 2012
Totalitarianisms and Authoritarianisms
December 6, 2011, 19:00
The lecture of the director of CUFA Department of Political Science, PhDr. Radek Buben, on the theme of Totalitarianisms and Authoritarianisms, or an intelligent non-politologist's companion into the world of "strange" concepts.
The World-Altering Power of the Freedom of Speech
December 9, 2011, 19:00
An international symposium on the role of freedom of expression in today’s globalised and culturally and religiously non-homogeneous international society. Accompanying programme: Exhibitions created by the NGO People in Need, “Press Against Persecution – Cuban Samizdat 2000–2010” and “Silenced Voices: An Exhibition About Murdered Human Rights Activists in Russia”. Evening public meeting featuring participants in the symposium, moderated by Carl Gerschman, president of the National Endowment for Democracy, and Šimon Pánek of People in Need. Theatrical performance produced by Archa Theatre accompanied by the music of the All Star Refugee Band. Concert by the group The Plastic People of the Universe. Organised by the Václav Havel Library in conjunction with People in Need and Archa Theatre. Admission free.
Karel Hvížďala: Gruša's Guard on the Rhine
December 12, 2011, 16:30
The festive launch of Karel Hvížďala's interviews with the poet and diplomat Jiří Gruša. "Gruša's Guard on the Rhine" contains interviews held in the course of almost thirty years mostly in Bonn, Wien and Prague. If Jiří Gruša considered Edvard Beneš an Austrian, then he, just like Adalbert of Prague, John Amos Comenius and Milan Kundera, to name just the most-known personalities, was a European. When we met for the last time, on the 1st October 2011, he told me: "We haven't come to understand that diplomacy and politics is not only about defending national interests but also about extending common sense. That is the general purpose; and this is no ideological task but an exhausting search for arguments for a meaningful dialogue. And if another Crisis comes, God save us: Because in politics, when it comes to evel acts, justification is needed. And Crisis indeed provides one to those who long for power at any cost. I am going for a surgery in a few days and He (pointing to the skies) will decide whether He still needs me and wants me to write something, or whether He does not want me to witness our homeland turning into a trap."
Ruling only oneself
December 15, 2011, 18:00
This composed evening is devoted to the life in Cuba as seen by the dissident and independent journalist Omar Rodriguez Saludez. Just like 74 other dissidents, he was arrested in Cuba in 2003 and given a 27-year sentence. In 2010 he was released and expatriated. The documentary film "Voices from the island of freedom" about political prisoners and their relatives will be projected in the Big Hall of MeetFactory from 18:00. The projection will be followed by the discussion with Omar Saludez who was involved in the creation of this film. The program will also include the exhibition of Pavel Hroch's photographs from Cuba. The event is organized by MeetFactory with the support of People in Need foundation and Václav Havel Library. Admission free