The Free Academy: Vendula Chalánková
- Where: 1st presidential library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: October 5, 2026, 20:00 – 21:00
The respected visual and intermedia artist Vendula Chalánková (1981) has featured in the Havel context on several occasions. Firstly, in 2018, in her typically unconventional style, she illustrated the book by political scientist Jacques Rupnik, *Central Europe Is Like a Bird with Eyes in the Back of Its Head*, in which one of the key illustrations is a portrait of Václav Havel. This subsequently served as the basis for two large-scale canvases, which are now in a private collection.
In the same year, she was approached by the Na zábradlí Theatre, for which Vendula Chalánková created a spatial painting installation entitled *The Presidential Box*, in which she uniquely interwove Havel’s absurdist poetics, the history of the venue and her own subtle, sensitive humour.
How did these works come about? What was a key moment whilst working on the portrait of Václav Havel? What is her relationship to his legacy? Come and hear Vendula Chalánková speak at the Free Academy.