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December 2021
Reading Havel
The aim of this project is to bring closer the key texts of Czechoslovakia's and the first president of the Czech Republic Václav Havel. We approached prominent public figures who met Václav Havel and/or who are his supporters (whether in the Czech Republic or abroad) to read selected excerpts from his texts. The invitation was accepted by Martha Issová, Pavel Fischer, Radka Denemarková, Tomáš Halík, Aneta Langerová, Patrik Hábl and Taťána Gregor Brzobohatá. The videos will be made available every Monday starting on 20 December 2021 until 31 January 2022 on the link below.
Find out more »January 2022
Holocaust survivor parents
Barnet Libraries presents: An online evening with Francis Morton discussing the story of his Holocaust survivor parents George and Renée. Francis's parents lived in Czechoslovakia before World War 2 but came to England as Jewish refugees. His mother came to England in 1938 on a domestic service visa to undertake housework and childcare for a family in Cambridge, while his father escaped from Czechoslovakia in 1940, illegally entering Palestine and then being interned on Mauritius by the British, before coming…
Find out more »February 2022
A Castle in Bohemia, an Austro-Japanese Count, and the Future of Europe
ZOOM lecture: Martyn Bond, a former foreign correspondent specialising in European affairs, will speak about Count Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, better known on the Continent than in Britain. Few anywhere know that the man whom Hitler damned in Mein Kampf as a ‘cosmopolitan bastard’ travelled on a Czechoslovak diplomatic passport for twenty years between the two world wars. As a young intellectual politicised by the Great War, the Count sent President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk one of his early political articles arguing for better…
Find out more »“Get to know you” social evening
This is an opportunity for anyone interested in the British Czech and Slovak Association (members, supporters and friends) to meet, eat, drink, chat (maybe practise your Czech or Slovak) and get to know each other in a relaxed and informal setting. Everybody with Czech or Slovak connections or interests is welcome. Join us and have a fun evening meeting friendly people. Food and drinks are available for purchase. West Hampstead has three stations served by the Jubilee line, Overground and…
Find out more »Sensing places: looking for a way back home
Artist Tereza Stehlíková will be in conversation with curator Gareth Evans about her multi-disciplinary artistic practice and reflect on the importance of unique places and spaces in inspiring and shaping her ideas. During the pandemic, as more time was spent online, questions of places and spaces have gained a new intensity. Virtual spaces are a kind of antithesis to being “somewhere”. In order to address some of these questions Stehlíková founded a new arts and science journal Tangible Territory. She is a…
Find out more »A youthful view of Czech elections and populism
A talk on Zoom by Nina Fořtíková, a sixteen-year old Prague schoolgirl, about the attitude of her generation towards Czech political life. She is not an average Czech teenager; when she was thirteen Nina joined a debating club which required wide reading on political matters. Nina submitted an essay Why people prioritise optimism over their freedom to the BCSA writing competition in which she analyses why right-wing nationalist politicians are becoming ever more popular. She attends one of Prague‘s international…
Find out more »Czech Music with the Pražák String Quartet
Programme Josef Suk Meditation Leoš Janáček Quartet No 1 ‘The Kreutzer Sonata’ Karel Janovický Quartet No 4 (UK première) Antonín Dvořák Quartet in G Op 106 Pražák String Quartet of Prague Jana Vonášková and Marie Magdalena Fuxová violins Josef Klusoň viola Pavel Jonáš Krejčí cello Tickets £25 reserved central, £15 unreserved side see booking link below
Find out more »March 2022
Jenůfa
Set in a rural Czech village, it tells the story of a woman’s efforts to protect her stepdaughter who has borne a child out of wedlock. Leoš Jánaček’s rich music propels the plot forward to its dramatic conclusion. Aylesbury Opera has assembled a fine cast to perform this most watchable of operas. The opera will be sung in English. Tickets £22, £20 (unreserved seating) see booking link below
Find out more »Legends of Czech Glass
The 1950s-70s saw a renaissance in Czech glass design that re-established the Bohemian region’s global reputation in this area. From behind the Iron Curtain, skilled designers pushed the boundaries of 20th century glass design and produced unique art glass masterpieces that went on to inspire visually stunning, highly innovative and commercial ranges. Despite this, the designers responsible were rarely named. Until today, the designs they produced have been typically forgotten or misattributed. This lecture reveals the work of seven influential…
Find out more »Czech Philharmonic at the Barbican 1
Smetana’s national epic Má vlast is undisputedly one of music’s most compelling symphonic poems. Pictures may paint a thousand words, but this is music that paints a thousand pictures; from the wild waters of the mighty Vltava coursing through the Czech landscape to a small village celebration on the outskirts of the Bohemian forests. ‘I doubt if any other orchestra in the world could play this so naturally and so movingly’ wrote The Arts Desk, following a deeply moving rendition streamed live from…
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