Events: November 2012
October 2012
December 2012
Dramatic Moments II Petr Zelenka
November 1, 2012, 19:00
Following up on the artistic legacy of Václav Havel, the Library is presenting contemporary dramatists whose work pertains to issues of human identity. Lenka Jungmannová will spend an evening in the company of the well known director, scriptwriter, and dramatist Petr Zelenka.
Václav Havel: The Power of the Powerless and Other Essays
November 5, 2012, 19:00
The formal launch of an anthology of key essays by Václav Havel. (Letter to Gustáv Husák, Stories and Totalitarianism, The Power of the Powerless, A Word About Words, etc. …). The philosopher and essayist Daniel Kroupa will acquaint those in attendance with the cultural and political contexts in which the texts were written.
A Real Event: David Němec and Emil Hakl
November 6, 2012, 19:00
The opening of an exhibition of pictures by David Němec, whose work inspired a memorable comment from Ivan M. Jirous when he spoke as an art historian and said "Behold David!". Jiří Fiedor will preside over the evening, which is being held in conjunction with the Argo publishing house.
David Němec: A Real Event
06/11/12 – 13/01/13
In his work, David Němec – who is showing his art from the last 15 years at Galerie Montmartre – primarily focuses on figural motifs, attempting to capture spiritual realities. His pictures come primarily from the Czech painting tradition of the 1960s. It could perhaps be said that they have been inspired by the work of the artists Mikuláš Medek and Otakar Slavík, close friends of Němec’s family who moved in the Charter 77 and underground circles centred on the legendary flat on Ječná St. where David Němec grew up. More
How It Was Done, How It Was Read, and How It Was Written: Obsah (meaning “Content”)
November 12, 2012, 14:00
An evening dedicated to the legendary samizdat magazine (est. 1981) whose writers and contributors included Milan Jungmann, Ludvík Vaculík, Milan Uhde, Eda Kriseová, Ivan Klíma, Václav Havel, Zdeněk Urbánek, Zbyněk Hejda, Luboš Dobrovský, Egon Bondy, Sergej Machonin, and a whole host of other personalities.
Memory and Dissent III – Jan Sokol
November 13, 2012, 09:30
A cycle of lectures by Nicolas Maslowský and his guests in cooperation with the Historical Sociology department of the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University. Lecture 3, Jan Sokol: Memories of "Everyday Dissident Life."
Václav Havel and Computers
November 19, 2012, 16:00
On the occasion of the ceremonial handover of the computer that Václav Havel used at the start of the 1990s, his secretary from that time, Vladimír Hanzel, looks back. The computer is being given to the Václav Havel Library by IBM.
Braha or Bratislava! Now for Prague!
November 21, 2012, 19:00
Mirka Ábelová, Vlado Šimek, Martin Melicherčík. A poetry commando unit from Bratislava is bringing a happening and perhaps even some guests. An evening of contemporary Slovak poetry: lyrical, epical, a hoe, a roar, decadence, verse, books, manifestos…
Mutinies II – Bělohradský, Sidon, Schwarzenberg
November 26, 2012, 17:00
Three mutineers have accepted an invitation to a public debate about a book of interviews. Journalist Karel Hvížďala will be quizzing the philosopher Václav Bělohradský, who rebels by thinking, Prince Karel Schwarzenberg, whose life is a rebellion in tradition, and Rabbi Efraim Karol Sidon, who defied the reigning non-normality by inclining towards Judaism. The evening is being held in conjunction with the Galén publishing house.
Memory and Dissent IV – Petruška Šustrová
November 27, 2012, 09:30
A cycle of lectures by Nicolas Maslowský and his guests in cooperation with the Historical Sociology department of the Faculty of Humanities at Charles University. Lecture 3, Petruška Šustrová: Charter 77, the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Persecuted, and other institutions of dissent.
This Paper Bridge Is So Firm
November 28, 2012, 19:00
Dozens of letters that had been exchanged with the writer Ludvík Vaculík have been preserved in the archive of František Janouch. The now published Korespondence (Mladá fronta, 2012) is an engaging read, which contributes to our understanding of the cooperation between those in exile abroad and those at home. It also offers a valuable insight into the recent past. František Janouch and Ludvík Vaculík will again read and comment on their letters from that time.