Events: December 2015
November 2015
January 2016
Petr Pithart: After Eighty-Nine
December 1, 2015, 19:00
Petr Pithart introduces his new book about his active years in politics in the 1990s and his time away from politics to the present day, exploring consequences and context, crises and “promising outlooks”… More
The Challenges, Paradoxes and Plays of Václav Havel: Mountain Hotel
December 3, 2015, 19:00
One of Václav Havel’s lesser-known plays, performed by the company Buchty a loutky. More
Sergei Loiko: Airport
December 4, 2015, 19:00
A novel about the Russian-Ukrainian war that shouldn’t have happened and about heroes who wanted to live and died. More
Petr Placák: Where did the mistake occur?
December 7, 2015, 19:00
Jan Ruml and Martin M. Šimečka – the children of one-time communists who abandoned their faith and became opponents of the regime – will take part in a discussion with the author of Gottwaldovo Československo jako fašistický stat (Gottwald’s Czechoslovakia as a Fascist State) Petr Placák. His father Bedřich Placák experienced a similar development to Jiří Ruml, Milan Šimečka and Jiřina Šiklová (who is also taking part in the debate): from convinced communist via reform communism to rejecting the system.
Roman Tadič: The Cheyenne – Indians in the Cogs of Colonisation and Globalisation
December 8, 2015, 19:00
How did a people who contributed to Custer’s defeat and inspired many works of literature and movies live? What values did they hold? Join us in taking a look at the unique culture of the Great Plains Indian people. More
The Prince’s Book
December 9, 2015, 18:00
Knížecí kniha (The Prince’s Book) has three main sections: an essay about Karel Schwarzenberg; an interview from the period when he was still living in Austria; and a digest of interviews that he gave in the Czech Republic and abroad between 1990 and 2012. The collection concludes with a “taking stock” interview from last year. More
Debate with Respekt: Human Rights – What Is Its Place in Czech Politics?
December 10, 2015, 19:00
A debate on the human rights agenda of Czech foreign policy and on the foundations on which the state has stood and wishes to stand in future. More
The Gulag in the Memoirs of Czech Writers
December 14, 2015, 19:00
Presentation of the life stories of Czech and Czechoslovak authors of labour camp literature penned between the 1930s and 1990s and their often hard-fought efforts to relay a personal testimony of the Soviet labour camps. More
The role of volunteers and universities in the refugee crisis
December 15, 2015, 18:00
In this year’s summer months volunteers represented practically the only help to refugees stranded at Budapest’s Keleti railway station. Many were students who didn’t hesitate to use their time and own funds in such a way. Direct participants, university students and teachers from the Hungary and the Czech Republic, will share their experiences and debate the role universities have had and should have in Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis. More
Student Essay: Is There Room in the Czech Republic for People of Different Cultures and Religions?
December 16, 2015, 18:30
Announcement of the results of the seventh edition of the Václav Havel Library’s Best Student Essay competition. More
The Challenges, Paradoxes and Plays of Václav Havel: Unveiling
December 17, 2015, 19:00
Above the fireplace a Turkish dagger, beside it a confession box, pure Baroque, and in an alcove a Gothic Madonna. Michal and Věra have invited Bedřich Vaňek over, not just to show him their newly decorated pad but above all to inspire him with their “meaningful” lifestyle. They want to help their dissident friend by example so that “things finally unravel somehow…” More
Holy Mass for Václav Havel
December 18, 2015, 18:00
The fourth Holy Mass for President Václav Havel organised by the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97. More