Events: December 2019
November 2019
January 2020
Krzysztof Miller: Breakthroughs and Conflicts
08/11/19 – 05/01/20 Participation on local events
Work by the Polish photo reporter from the Velvet Revolution and around the world. More
Civil Society Under Threat? Its Current Role, 30 Years After
December 2, 2019, 17:00
From the Central European perspective, 1989 is viewed as a “year of miracles” when freedom and democracy were gradually established in the countries of the decaying Eastern Bloc. Newly acquired freedom also brought previously unimagined opportunities, and a group of former dissidents were involved in the birth of a nascent civil society. But after 30 years’ actual experience of liberal-democratic rule, what really remains of that miracle? More
Interviews From a Time of Tumult
December 2, 2019, 20:00
How has the arena of freedom in our country changed over the last 30 years? In what state is freedom both social and personal? More
Evenings with Reporters: Poles and Czechs 30 Years Later / Beyond Borders
December 3, 2019, 19:00
The fall of the Iron Curtain opened up borders. But do we actually observe the world, or do we travel merely for experiences? The media, internet and social networks deliver thousands of images a minute from far-flung parts. We are overwhelmed by reports about refugees, military conflicts and revolutions and photos of natural disasters. How close is solidarity to indifference? Thirty years after our countries won their freedom back, two photo reporters will discuss their experiences of regions that are still awaiting that happy moment. More
Daniel Hradecký: Approaching Wood
December 5, 2019, 20:00
On the occasion of the publication of his new collection Přibližování dřeva (Approaching Wood), poet Daniel Hradecký presents his own poems as well as works by other writers linked to Litvínov, such as Josef Jedlička and Pavel Růžek. More
What is Coming from Moscow?
December 6, 2019, 19:00
In what direction is Russian politics headed? What is the state of civil society? Is there any room for independent media? Do the opposition have a chance to communicate with their voters? And where has senator Smoljak’s coat disappeared to? More
The Other Europe
December 9, 2019, 18:00
In 1987 Jacques Rupnik and director Tom Roberts crossed the Iron Curtain to shoot a film about daily life in the Eastern Bloc for UK viewers. What impression did late socialism make? More
Czechoslovaks in the Gulag III: Book Presentation
December 10, 2019, 19:00
On Human Rights Day this year we mark the 80th anniversary of the start of waves of refugees from Czechoslovakia to the Soviet Union. The majority of the 8,000 refugees ended up in the Gulag, where 1,000 of them died. Selected stories of those refugees are the focus of the third edition of the successful series Czechoslovaks in the Gulag, which is being published in a co-edition by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and Czech Television. More
Dana Huňátová: Velvet Diplomacy
December 11, 2019, 18:00
From 11 December 1989 Dana Huňátová served as head of the office of the freshly appointed minister of foreign affairs, Jiří Dienstbier. In a book of memoirs aptly entitled Sametová diplomacie (Velvet Diplomacy) she lifts the lid on Czechoslovak diplomacy between December 1989 and the elections of June 1992, as well as casting light on the roots of a number of political disputes. More
Jiří Sozanský: AMNESIA
December 12, 2019, 19:00
Discussion with the authors of the publication AMNÉZIE (AMNESIA), issued in connection with an exhibition of work by Jiří Sozanský at the Municipal House (15.10.2019–17.1.2020). More
Olga Housková: Family Album
December 16, 2019, 19:00
In short texts, photographic portraits and family snaps, the book Rodinné album (Family Album) maps the 20th century from the perspective of photographer Olga Housková (1919–2015), who together with her twin sister grew up in the milieu of the First Republic avant garde. Housková came of age in the circle surrounding the magazine Mladá kultura and during the war ran a photo studio with her sister where alongside children’s and portrait photography they were involved in the resistance and helped Jewish friends, many of whom died in concentration camps. She later worked for many years as the photographer at the Divadlo na Vinohrady theatre. More
T. G. Masaryk: The Hilsner Affair: Texts from 1898–1900
December 17, 2019, 17:00
“I will not allow myself to be violated by anybody and I will not retreat in the face of lies and misunderstood slogans. Are thinking independently and working scientifically forbidden? My criticism of the Polná trial is the same scientific work as my other scientific work. The intelligentsia are those who think. Those who think also have an obligation against every injustice and must stand up and combat superstition in a thoroughgoing manner! Don’t lie! That would be the first law of a modern code of ethics. Not to lie to people but neither to lie to oneself. Let us not forget that he who lies to another lies to himself. He deceives himself in his imagination by allowing the lower instincts and feelings – unjustified, unconsidered, blind, unfelt.” (Masaryk 1899–1900) More
Young Czechs in Multinational Institutions
December 19, 2019, 19:00
The Mladá politika association extends an invitation to another of its discussions held in cooperation with the VHL. This time the focus is on the experience of working for the European Central Bank, NATO and the European Union, how the Czech Republic and its representatives are viewed at such institutions and whether nationality plays any role whatever in them. We will discuss the real working of multinational institutions and the myths commonly associated with them, while we will also ask ourpanellists about their perceptions of the global role of these organisations in the context of recent news stories such as the withdrawal of US troops from Syria, the renewal of quantitative easing by the ECB and Brexit. More