Events: June 2016
May 2016
July 2016
Joseph Roth: The Tale of the 1002nd Night
June 2, 2016, 19:00
The Austrian journalist and novelist Joseph Roth, whose best-known works include the novels The Radetsky March and The Capuchin Tomb, was an astute observer and perceptive witness of the decline and demise of Austria-Hungary, of the end of the “old days”, when the deep-rooted and conventional gave way to fear and uncertainty sparked by the “new order”. More
Book Presentation: Nadezhda Tolokonnikova – How to Make a Revolution (Notes from the Penal Colony)
June 6, 2016, 19:00
“Live in such a way that you’re not ashamed of your own politics.” More
Visegrad Reads and Debates
June 7, 2016, 19:00
Literary gathering with writers from the Visegrad states: prose author, poet, translator, critic and musician Roland Orcsik (Hungary), poet, prose author and publisher Jan Těsnohlídek Jr. (Czech Republic), journalist Joanna Szczepanik (Poland) and editor, translator and children’s books author Barbora Škovierová (Slovakia). More
Who’s at Home Here and Who’s a Guest
June 8, 2016, 19:00
Now traditional poetry reading held within the festival Stranou 2016 – European Poetry Live. More
Inclusive Education in Relation to Democratic Principles and Values
June 9, 2016, 16:30
The issue of inclusion in the education system has been resonating deeply and sparking emotions in Czech society for a number of months. This themed debate will place the subject in the broader societal framework and consider it in the context of declared democratic values and accepted values. More
Museum Night: The Nineties at Prague Castle
11/06/16 – 12/06/16
As part of this year’s Museum Night Oldřich Škácha’s photographs from Prague Castle in the 1990s will be projected with loose commentary by Michael Žantovský and Vladimír Hanzel, who at that time served as Václav Havel’s spokesman and secretary. More
Viktoria Lomasko and Oksana Bryukhovetskaya: Feminist Art in Eastern Europe Today
June 13, 2016, 19:00
Viktoria Lomasko and Oksana Bryukhovetskaya are artists and curators who have long been exploring the position of women in post-Soviet society. As part of their political activism they monitor and analyse not just the position of women but also other marginalised groups: the socially excluded, the homeless, migrants and homosexual couples. More
Václav Havel: From Playwright and Dissident to President – a Slovenian View
June 14, 2016, 17:00
Prof. Denis Poniž, a Slovenian literary historian and playwright, and Prof. Katja Mihurko Poniž, a literary historian, will trace Slovenian audiences’ encounters with Havel from the first performance of The Memorandum in 1969, when the “normalisation” period had already begun. The performance and interpretation of his plays in Communist-era Slovenia was linked to Slovenia’s (and Yugoslavia’s) own political perturbations, thus creating parallels as well as differences. What does Havel as a playwright have to say to the societies of Central Europe today, in an artistic as well as in a wider political sense? Alongside his dramatic works, the discussion will focus on the reception of his essays, documents linked to his time as a dissident and all other materials touching on his connections with Slovene culture. More
The Power of the Powerless in Ukraine
June 15, 2016, 19:00
Tetiana Okopna will discuss Václav Havel’s work, literature, the power and powerlessness of the written word and the ordeal of translation with Jáchym Topol. More
Václav Havel: Ela, Hela and the Hitch
June 16, 2016, 19:00
Old ladies are hitchhiking for the first time. They have their ethical principles, their flowerpots, their planter boxes, their rollmops, their crosses and habits, their social position… More
KineDok II: Domino Effect
June 17, 2016, 18:00
Second evening at the Václav Havel Library prepared in cooperation with KineDok, which is focused on the alternative distribution of authorial documentaries in Central and Eastern Europe. More
25 Years of Post-Communist Transformations in East Central Europe: From a Success Story to the Revenge of History
June 17, 2016, 14:00
In his presentation Professor Ekiert will analyze the uneven path of political and economic transformations across countries of the former Soviet bloc during the past 25 years. He will offer some potential explanations for various fates these countries have experienced, emphasizing the role of historical legacies in shaping the outcomes of economic, social and political reforms. He will also discuss the EU crisis, unraveling of the pro-European consensus in Visegrad countries and challenges facing the region today. More
The Past, Present and Future of Global Migration
June 20, 2016, 17:00
In light of the ongoing migration crisis, we have to discuss, evaluate and seriously revaluate many interrelated problems in a broader historical context. The 20th century has seen many traumatic instances of expulsion and forced migration in Europe and beyond. The vicious process of nation-building has led to the displacement of millions of people. The legacies of World War II, and later the Yugoslav wars, deeply traumatized those directly affected, as well as their descendants. Highly relevant conclusions that are part of the current public debate can be drawn from these historical perspectives. More
The Library at the Library
June 21, 2016, 17:00
...or Everything you always wanted to know about the Václav Havel Library but were afraid to ask. More
The Withdrawal of Soviet Troops
June 22, 2016, 19:00
The turn of June and July 1991 saw the extinction once and for all of the official remnants of the former Soviet Bloc in Central Europe: On 28 June the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance was dissolved in Budapest; on 30 June Soviet troops left Czechoslovakia; and on 1 July, under the presidency of President Václav Havel, the Warsaw Pact was dissolved in Prague. More
Brexit Vigil
June 23, 2016, 21:00
At 11 PM Central European Summer Time in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ballot boxes will close in a referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union. Its outcome will determine not just whether the UK remains part of the European project – it will also have a marked influence on the future of the whole continent. We will meet at the Library together and with good will to await the first results of the referendum. More
Pavel Havel: Rr in Brrrno
June 25, 2016, 17:00
Rrrobert Chrrroust (Pavel Kohout) and doctorrr Horrror (Ivan M. Havel) move to Brno to perrrforrrm, under the direction of Michael Žantovský, a rrreprise of the of the trrragicomedy on the desirrre of Rrrobert Chrrroust to become an actorrr. More
Greil Marcus: Lipstick Traces
June 28, 2016, 19:00
With classic rock critic Greil Marcus on rebellion in music from the 1960s to the present. Moderated discussion with music journalist Pavel Klusák. More
Jaroslava Hercíková: Dresses
June 29, 2016, 19:00
It is very difficult to characterise either the poetry collection Šaty s píčou (Dresses with a Twat) or its author. Those who attend Jaroslava Hercíková’s reading will experience a remorseless poetic maze of the soul bearing traces of absurdity, hopelessness, anger and black humour. Some might call it underground. But when they start to drown in depression and mental sludge they will, just in time, get the chance to breathe and, unharmed, reach passages seamlessly infused with cheerfulness and playfulness, even… a tribute to life.
Pavel Havel: Rr
June 30, 2016, 19:00
At the close of this season at the Václav Havel Library we present, following a successful premiere in May, a reprise of the trrragicomedy on the desirrre of Rrrobert Chrrroust, who strrruggled to prrronounce his r’s, to become an actorrr. More