Events: November 2014
October 2014
December 2014
Stanislav Devátý outside the law
November 3, 2014, 19:00
Continuation of a year-long series from the archives of the Václav Havel Library on the emergence and activities of civic initiatives in the breakthrough year of 1989. More
New nationalism and separatism in Europe and the world
November 4, 2014, 18:00
A debate on nationalism and separatism in places such as Scotland, Catalonia, Belgium, northern Italy, Hungary, Russia and China – and more. The discussion will be chaired by Jan Macháček, journalist and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Václav Havel Library. More
Do we need the crisis to stimulate European identity?
November 5, 2014, 19:00
The debate will look for answers to the questions: Has the financial crisis helped European identity? Will the current Ukrainian security crisis encourage a perception of a common European identity, and as a consequence make further integration possible at the EU level? How will it influence the policies of the European Parliament and Commission? More
Havel’s Place unveiled in Oxford
November 6, 2014 Participation on events abroad
Oxford is the latest city to get a Havel’s Place memorial to Václav Havel. Bořek Šípek’s piece in the form of two armchairs linked by a table with a Linden tree growing through it symbolises the democratic dialogue that was essential to Václav Havel. More information.
Debate with Respekt: Meda Mládková, Art and High Politics
November 6, 2014, 19:00
Ondřej Kundra, the author of Meda Mládková: Můj úžasný život (Meda Mládková: My Amazing Life), will discuss, along with fellow guests Jiří Pospíšil and David Černý, Czech art, those who collect it, and politics that managed to turn everybody’s fates upside down. Chaired by Tomáš Sacher.
Who is a man… storytelling matters
November 10, 2014, 19:00
An evening with Marek Orko Vácha In 2005 the genome of the chimpanzee was mapped and the scientific community expected that a difference would be found when it was compared to ours – the humanity gene. The two sets of DNA are almost identical. More
Talks across borders – with Bernd Posselt and Kateřina Šafaříková
November 11, 2014, 19:00
The first evening in a three-part series following in the tradition of the “Talks on neighbourliness” on Czech-German relations initiated by Václav Havel in 1995. At that time solutions were found to several thorny issues, or at least a dialogue was begun, and numerous Czech-German activities were developed. More
Memory of dissent III: Bishop Paďour – the theatre and the church
November 12, 2014, 10:00
The lecture series Memory of Dissent is organised by the Historical Sociology department at Charles University’s Faculty of Humanities and the Václav Havel Library and headed by sociologist Nicolas Maslowski.
Dissent and exile … the path to November
November 12, 2014, 19:00
What significance did figures in exile, who brought attention to events in Czechoslovakia, have for dissidents? And did they help the dissent? How did the “channels” function and how was cooperation across the Iron Curtain carried out? And how effective were the StB in thwarting contacts between the domestic “hive of Chartists” and the “diversionary centres” abroad? More
Return to Europe: Lessons from 1989 until Today in Democratic Transitions
November 13, 2014, 12:00 Participation on events abroad
Conference within the frame of Václav Havel European Dialogues co-organised by the Czech Centre, the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU, and the European Partnership for Democracy. More information here.
Bronislav Ostřanský: Atlas of Muslim Bogeymen
November 13, 2014, 19:00
Interest in Islam is on the rise. However, numerous controversial phenomena, which for years have grabbed the headlines, are not to be found in guides to Islam. An unenlightened observer might have the impression that there are two Islams, the media one and the one found in libraries and universities – with very little overlap between them. More
FESTIVAL OF FREEDOM
14/11/14 – 17/11/14
The Václav Havel Library in cooperation with the Lucerna Palace presents launch of exhibition, various debates and presentation of books within the frame of Festival of Freedom. More
READING FROM MICHAEL ŽANTOVSKÝ’S BOOK HAVEL
November 14, 2014, 15:00
Václav Havel from the perspective of Michael Žantovský. His former associate offers not just an “insider’s” view but also critical observations, telling Havel’s gripping life story with the utmost objectivity and human and expert erudition. More
LAUNCH OF PAVEL HROCH’S PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION WITH A PASSOIN FOR FREEDOM
November 14, 2014, 17:00 Exhibitions
An exhibition of black and white photographs by Pavel Hroch from the former Czechoslovakia capturing not only the period of mass demonstrations in 1989 and the subsequent revolution but above all the first half of the 1990s, a white hot period full of political and social changes, carnivalesque festivity, celebrations, hopes and expectations. THE EXHIBITION WILL LAST UNTIL 14 DECEMBER 2014. The electronic version is available on Google Cultural Institute.
Night (of Theatres) at the Václav Havel Library
November 15, 2014, 20:30
We will recall Václav Havel’s dramatic work via a selection of film screenings and staged readings. More
READING FROM EDA KRISEOVÁ’S BOOK VÁCLAV HAVEL
November 15, 2014, 15:00
Václav Havel knew writer Eda Kriseová from dissident circles and she experienced alongside him the most tempestuous weeks of the revolution. She became his adviser and later director of the Complaints and Pardons department at Prague Castle. What happened at that time will never happen again: thinkers, writers and philosophers took the reins of power… admittedly without any practical experience of governing, but with the purest of intentions. More
FEMALE STUDENTS REMEMBER 1989
November 15, 2014, 16:30
Readings from two books published by Prostor, Vezměte s sebou květinu! (Take Flowers with You!) from Monika MacDonagh-Pajerová and Moje pařížská revoluce (My Paris Revolution) from Andrea Sedláčková. More
THE ACCELERATED PULSE OF HISTORY: VÁCLAV HAVEL - LADISLAV ADAMEC
November 15, 2014, 18:00
A staged reading from authentic records of negotiations between Civic Forum and Public Against Violence and representatives of the state headed by Prime Minister Ladislav Adamec in November and December 1989. Václav Havel’s secretary Vladimír Hanzel recorded the meetings on tape. Programme prepared by: Anna Freimanová, Ondřej Pavelka, Kryštof Pavelka. Stage reading: Ladislav Adamec - Jiří Štrébl, Václav Havel - Lukáš Příkazký. Others: Lucie Políšenská, Karel Heřmánek a Jakub Kropáček.
STUDENTS AND REVOLUTION
November 16, 2014, 16:00
Meeting and discussion between student leaders of the Velvet Revolution – Monika MacDonagh-Pajerová, Šimon Pánek, Jan Potměšil – and contemporary students - Tereza Reichlová, Robin Hendrych a Filip Jelínek -who have lived their whole lives in democracy. How do the young generation view the events of 25 years ago? Chaired by Michal Horáček. In cooperation with the Forum 2000 Foundation. More
THEATRE AND REVOLUTION
November 16, 2014, 18:00
Evening of memory and debate featuring important actors in the events of November 1989: then students from the Theatre Faculty at the Academy of Performing Arts, directors, actors, dramatists and dramaturges. Authentic film footage will also be screened. More
GALA PREMIERE OF THE FILM VACLAV HAVEL - LIVING IN FREEDOM
November 16, 2014, 20:00
Special invitations only In her latest film, Andrea Sedláčková maps the life of Václav Havel exclusively using period recordings, photographs and other historical materials. Only situations that require “external” explanation are supplemented by an authorial voiceover. More
The Church and Revolution
November 17, 2014, 17:00
The debate about the role of church in the events of November 1989. From at least the second half of the 1980s there was a visible coming together of official and unofficial church structures, which became abundantly clear during the Velehrad pilgrimage of 1985, and prefigured and confirmed cooperation between the church and civic dissidents. More
Cabinet Havel 2014/2015
November 17, 2014, 17:00
or All we need is Truth. A loose continuation of the Cabinet Havel debate series. The first debate subject is WITHOUT BORDERS. Guests: František Janouch, founder of the Charter 77 Foundation, and Jan Trachta, a paediatric “doctor without borders”. Renata Kalenská will ask the questions while Petr Oslzlý will philosophise. Tereza Marečková will sing “Prayer for Marta” at the end. More
An evening with death
November 18, 2014, 19:00
A debate on how we die in the Czech Republic. One hundred and five thousand people die in the Czech Republic annually, 69% of them in hospitals or hospices. Most would like to die at home but for few does that wish come true. More
Student Thálie – Poetry Forum
November 19, 2014, 17:00
A meeting of young literati with readings from award-wining participants in the Authorial Initiative Student Thálie and poets from the national literary competitions Václav Hrabě’s Hořovice and Orten’s Kutná Hora. More
Evening of Voices
November 19, 2014, 19:00
Presentation of a new edition of the CD Hlasy (Voices), featuring readings by leading contemporary Czech poets, writers and translators. Petr Král, Lubomír Martínek, Oldřich Král and Andrej Giňa will attend and read from their works. More
Ceremonial unveiling of a bust of Václav Havel at the House of Representatives
November 19, 2014, 10:00 Participation on events abroad
On 11 March 2014 the United States Congress, the USA’s supreme legislative body, passed resolution no. 506 honouring the life and legacy of Václav Havel. More
The Maidan – a year later
November 20, 2014, 18:00
The Ukrainian tumult may not have been directly sparked by the Maidan, but it became its fuse and visible symbol. What led to the Maidan, how did it play out and what is its meaning today? More
Talks in English: The Fall of the Iron Curtain as viewed by Jolyon Naegele
November 21, 2014, 19:00
Another in a short series of talks in English with colleagues and friends of Václav Havel. Jolyon Naegele was Voice of America's correspondent for Central and Eastern Europe from 1984 to 1994, during which he interviewed Václav Havel on numerous occasions. More
Anne Sutherland: Gypsies – the Invisible Americans
November 24, 2014, 18:00
The US anthropologist presents her book portraying the customs and social structures of Romanies in a small Californian town. The traditions of free-thinking America and socialist Czechoslovakia are utterly different. However, in many ways the similarities between the Californian Romanies and contemporary Czech Olah Romanies are fascinating. More
Shared space – the creation of the city as dialogue IV
November 25, 2014, 19:00
Another in a series of popularising events focused on the main paradigms in the creation of cities of the 21st century. The evening is taking place in cooperation with the Prague Institute of Planning and Development.
Memory of Dissent IV: Pavel Rychetský – discrete zone
November 26, 2014, 10:00
The lecture series Memory of Dissent is organised by the Historical Sociology department at Charles University’s Faculty of Humanities and the Václav Havel Library and headed by sociologist Nicolas Maslowski.
The Sudeten Germans 1848–1948
November 26, 2014, 18:00
Presentation of Sudetští Němci 1848–1948. Dějiny jednoho nacionalismu (The Sudeten Germans 1848–1948: The History of One Nationalism) by Polish historian Piotr Maciej Majewski, which is being published in cooperation with the Museum of the Second World War in Gdansk and with the support of the Czech-Polish Forum. More
Memories of Natalya Gorbanevskaya
November 27, 2014, 19:00
An evening dedicated to the poet, translator and defender of human rights Natalya Gorbanevskaya. More