Events: October 2019
September 2019
November 2019
International Conference in Honour of the Winner of the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
October 2, 2019, 12:30
So As Not To Lose Our Minds – Young People Between Palach and Charter 77
October 3, 2019, 17:00
The testimonies of students from the period 1968–1977, i.e., “between Palach and the Charter”, put together as a collage of literary forms and narrative approaches in which each author offers their version of events according to their own memories and, in many cases, consciences. This represents a noteworthy mosaic of events from that time – small, humdrum and human, often carried out under the watch of cadre officers of all kinds –, as well as an exploration of the interior lives of young people in a period when the 1960s ethos was dying out and normalisation setting in. More
Silent Women
October 4, 2019, 19:00
Silent Women in an era of cultural transformation and information warfare. More
Home is Everywhere
October 7, 2019, 19:00
The history of Central Europe in the memoirs of a famous journalist. More
Evenings with Reports: Poles and Czechs 30 Years Later / Us and Them
October 9, 2019, 19:00
Though we live in free and wealthy countries, the trenches running through society are getting deeper. Social cohesion, compromise in the name of mutual interest and the art of listening to others are disappearing. We are fracturing into small (social) bubbles that reinforce their own truths and search for the enemy within. This problem besetting the whole Western world is also being felt keenly in the Czech Republic and Poland, impacting public debate, politics and our lives. More
Jan Němec: The Possibilities of the Romance Novel
October 11, 2019, 19:30
On love and writing in an age of digital sorrow. More
Festival of Democracy at the Václav Havel Library
October 13, 2019, 17:15
Come to the fourth edition of the Festival of Democracy. You will be celebrating with us civic activity as a fundamental pillar of freedom and democracy while also supporting public discussion across generations and the entire society. A society that 30 years ago unlocked the door to freedom and is today afraid of losing it. As this year we are recalling the events of 1989, we wish to revive the legacy of the Velvet Revolution, its values and aspirations. At the same time, however, we hope in this context to devote space to challenges to the common future that we hold in our hands – because we feel responsibility for the world in which we live. Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with Forum 2000. The event will take place in Czech and English; interpretation will not be provided. More
Festival of Democracy at the Václav Havel Library
October 14, 2019, 13:00
Come to the fourth edition of the Festival of Democracy. You will be celebrating with us civic activity as a fundamental pillar of freedom and democracy while also supporting public discussion across generations and the entire society. A society that 30 years ago unlocked the door to freedom and is today afraid of losing it. As this year we are recalling the events of 1989, we wish to revive the legacy of the Velvet Revolution, its values and aspirations. At the same time, however, we hope in this context to devote space to challenges to the common future that we hold in our hands – because we feel responsibility for the world in which we live. Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with Forum 2000. The event will take place in Czech and English; interpretation will not be provided. More
Festival of Democracy at the Václav Havel Library
October 15, 2019, 13:00
Come to the fourth edition of the Festival of Democracy. You will be celebrating with us civic activity as a fundamental pillar of freedom and democracy while also supporting public discussion across generations and the entire society. A society that 30 years ago unlocked the door to freedom and is today afraid of losing it. As this year we are recalling the events of 1989, we wish to revive the legacy of the Velvet Revolution, its values and aspirations. At the same time, however, we hope in this context to devote space to challenges to the common future that we hold in our hands – because we feel responsibility for the world in which we live. Organised by the Václav Havel Library in cooperation with Forum 2000. The event will take place in Czech and English; interpretation will not be provided. More
The Velvet Revolution in the Eyes of the Children of 1950s Political Prisoners
October 15, 2019, 19:00
Did the lives of daughters and sons whose parents had been political prisoners in the 1950s change after November 1989? If so, how? More
Taiwan Demystified
October 16, 2019, 19:00
The event will present Taiwan as a democratic country in a difficult geo-political position, and an important investment partner for the Czech Republic. It will clarify the current status of Taiwan in international relations, including its position on the “One China Principle ”. Other topics will include Cross-Straits Relations, cooperation with other countries, and some of the recent controversies in the Czech Republic, such as the much discussed Prague’s Sister City agreements. More
Getting the message across
October 16, 2019, 13:45
The role of the foreign media in the build-up to the Velvet Revolution in 1989 was an important part of the dramatic events of the annus mirabilis. Through the reports and broadcasts of a small number of reporters based in Czechoslovakia the world had an opportunity to learn about the growing resistance to the communist regime from activists, eye-witnesses and observers. At the same time, citizens of Czechoslovakia became increasingly informed, largely thanks to foreign radio broadcasts, not only about the latest government decisions and the sorry state of the economy but also about various civil initiatives. From the beginning of 1989 the reporting of foreign journalists in Prague became an essential feature in the efforts of the opposition to the regime to organize and attract broader support. Foreign journalists also played an important part in covering the drama of the Velvet Revolution and conveying its significance to the Western and global audiences, and in reporting on the first steps of the new, democratic government. The special event in the Václav Havel Library will bring together some of the journalists who covered the events and their memories. More
The Underground and Czechoslovakia in the Years 1976–1981
October 17, 2019, 10:00
The period covered by the fifth international conference on the Czech underground was not selected randomly. The normalisation regime’s first mass campaign against the underground community began in 1976. It ended with the uniting of a fragmented opposition around a common platform, Charter 77. Paradoxically, it took the Communist regime itself to politicise and popularise the underground. More
More than Words
October 18, 2019, 12:00 Participation on events abroad
This year’s edition of the biggest international book fair will take place from October 16 to 20. Alongside a stand presenting the Czech Republic, which will be honouring Václav Havel, Havel’s famous speech Words on Words will also be remembered. More
Evening with Pierre Michon, Laureate of 2019 Franz Kafka Prize
October 21, 2019, 18:00
Meeting with novelist Pierre Michon, laureate of the prestigious Franz Kafka Prize, which recognises exceptional literary work by major modern authors, for 2019. Michon received the Prix France Culture for his very first book (Vies minuscules, Gallimard 1984), while he also earned one of France’s most important awards, the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française, for his book Les Onze, as well as being presented with the Petrarca-Preis, Prix Décembre and Prix Marguerite-Yourcenar. More
Morozov, Němec – The Power of the Powerful, or The Power of the Powerless
October 23, 2019, 17:00
Russia and Europe from the perspective of 2024. A philosophical dialogue of the generations. More
Lost in Translation V
October 23, 2019, 19:00
Another round table organised jointly by the Václav Havel Library and the Czech Literary Translators’ Guild, this time entitled The influence of English on Czech: Where does enrichment end and contamination begin? More
Václav Havel Editions Live
October 24, 2019, 19:00
Presentation of a translation series and discussion with its authors More
The Velvet Revolution After Thirty Years
October 30, 2019, 17:00
Daniel Kroupa, Monika MacDonagh-Pajerová, Jolyon Naegele and Jan Sokol will return in conversations with Olga Sommerová and Petr Placák to the events of the Velvet Revolution. The focus will not be on the recollections of direct participants but on the recent history and values that have formed us and continue to do so. More
Memorial to Three Resistances in Lošany
October 30, 2019, 20:00
The debate will focus on the form of the Memorial to Three Resistances in Lošany on the family farm of General Major Josef Mašín. How should Czechoslovakia’s three resistance movements in the 20th century be commemorated? How has remembrance culture changed in this area in the past? What were the international inspirations for the architectural plan for the Lošany memorial? More
Havel in America
October 31, 2019, 17:00
The authors of the book Havel v Americe (Havel in America), Lenka Kabrhelová and Rosamund Johnston, will discuss the intellectual legacy of Václav Havel in the United States with Petr Pithart and other guests. More
What is freedom?
October 31, 2019, 20:00
Panel discussion featuring Velvet Revolution participants and today’s youth More