NewsTransition from Communism: A Conversation with Wendy Luers February 27, 2016 As told to Katie Mills Giorgio by Wendy Luers / Printed with permission from the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Slovo, Winter 2015-16, www.ncsml.org. / Wendy W. Luers is the founding President of The Foundation for a Civil Society (FCS) and Co-Chair of the Project on Justice in …
NewsVaclav Havel and the Power of the Powerless February 27, 2016 Source: Counter Punch www.counterpunch.org / By Michael Welton / Nothing to learn, everything to teach the poor children In his speech to the Polish Sejm and Senate in 1990 (“The future of Central Europe,” New York Review of Books, 29 March 1990), Vaclav Havel exuded confidence that a “rich Western …
NewsBlanka Zizka of Wilma Theater Wins $100,000 Vilcek Prize February 9, 2016 Source: The New York Times / Art Beat / By Joshua Barone Blanka Zizka, a Czech émigré who co-founded the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia in the 1980s, has received this year’s Vilcek Prize for immigrant artists — an honor that comes with $100,000. “It was kind of shocking and unexpected, …
NewsVaclav Havel Library Foundation Fellowship for Human Rights Announcement February 2, 2016 The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation announces The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation Fellowship for Human Rights, a summer fellowship in Prague for undergraduate students studying in the United States. Founded as part of Havel@80, the annual fellowship program will offer students a two week, fully-funded opportunity to learn from and engage …
EventsHAVEL@80: Invisible girls theatre co. presents January 8, 2016 Invisible girls theatre co. New York presents three (iii) plays: Samuel Beckett ‘Embers’ Václav Havel ‘Unveiling’ Caryl Churchill ‘Abortive’ Directed by Geoffrey Lokke and designed by Alexander Lane From Feb. 23 to Feb. 28, 2016 http://invisiblegirls.co/ tbg theatre 312 w 36 st New York
NewsHavel@80 January 6, 2016 “Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.” Vaclav Havel Vaclav Havel, playwright, dissident, and president, ‘soul guide to individuals and nations’, to quote Seamus …
NewsHavel@80 – Video Postcard from New York January 6, 2016 Oskar Eustis, Edward Einhorn, Peter Sis, Suzanne Vega, George and Camilla Mraz, Bill and Wendy Luers, and Alexander Lane invite you to celebrate Havel@80 and make 2016 the year of Vaclav Havel!
NewsWe commemorate the 39th anniversary of the release of Charter 77 January 6, 2016 On January 6, we commemorate the 39th anniversary of the release of Charter 77. The Charter 77 was a human rights document that revealed Czechoslovakian government’s violations of human and civil rights that were included in the Helsinki Accords signed by the government in 1975. The document became known internationally …
NewsHavel and Dienstbier fellows start at RFE/RL December 26, 2015 Source: Prague Post www.praguepost.com / By Raymond Johnston / Prague, Czech Republic- December 23, 2015 – RFE/RL has welcomed the 2015–16 Václav Havel Journalism Fellows to its Prague offices for an eight-month program of professional development aimed at supporting independent journalists in countries lacking a free press. This year’s Havel …
NewsCELEBRATING HAVEL – PRAGUE AND HOUSTON December 18, 2015 By Fred Baldwin Fred Baldwin has had an extensive career in photography as a professional photographer and professor of photography. He has worked for Audubon, LIFE, National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, Newsweek, and the New York Times among others. In 1983, he co-founded FotoFest, the first international Biennial of Photography and …
Events“Art and Activism: Amnesty International USA Write for Rights.” December 8, 2015 Amnesty International USA is joining forces with Eugene Lang College, The New School University, Theater Program for a free event “Art and Activism: Amnesty International USA Write for Rights.” Tuesday, December 8, 2015 from 6pm-8pm at the Theresa Lang Center, 55W 13th Street The event will consist of students from …
EventsWrite for Rights with Amnesty International December 8, 2015 Link: Write for Rights with Amnesty International Human Rights Day – December 10, 2015 Your hand-written letters, combined with hundreds of thousands of others from around the world, can change the lives of this year’s 12 cases. Become part of the largest grassroots human rights event in the world by …
NewsNovember Hurricane November 14, 2015 November 17 marks the 26th anniversary of the start of Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. We are marking the occasion with an excerpt from the writing of one of Vaclav Havel’s favorite writers. From “November Hurricane,” by Bohumil Hrabal Translated by Paul Wilson, November 2015 In 1989, Hrabal, who by that …
NewsChinese dissident receives political award in Washington November 6, 2015 Source: Asia Times / By dpa / Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng received an award Thursday from a US organization dedicated to the memory of the victims of communism. Chen, who escaped house arrest in China in 2012, was awarded the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom from the Victims of …
NewsRenowned Czech artist, architect, and designer Borek Sipek passed away this morning February 13, 2016 Renowned Czech artist, architect, and designer Borek Sipek passed away this morning, after a serious illness, at the age of sixty-six. He was one of the most internationally respected Czech artists of these days. He designed several major buildings around the world, including the Opera House in Kyoto and the …