News

NewsInsert Ideology Here September 26, 2015 Source: The Stranger / By Brendan Kiley / Strawshop Switches Capitalism for Communism in Havel’s The Memorandum, and It Fits Perfectly. In 1965, a new play by Vaclav Havel titled The Memorandum premiered at the Theatre on the Balustrade in Prague. It was a bitter satire of Soviet bureaucracy and how it dehumanizes people …
NewsThe International Day of Peace in Seoul September 22, 2015 Source: The Korean Times / By hcchung@koreatimes.co.kr / PBF 2015 Contest To commemorate the International Day of Peace, participants will explore what must be done to realize a sustainable global community. Participants will be able to present papers, photos or short video clips related to the main theme of the 2015 …
NewsThe Dolomites embrace human rights September 15, 2015 The Dolomites embrace human rights – 6,000 people joined their hands to symbolically protect every woman, man and child whose fundamental rights are denied. Organized by Art for Amnesty, Amnesty International, and Together We Can. https://www.facebook.com/CatenaUmanaTreCime/videos/509491669210578/
NewsVaclav Havel’s Radio Appeals from August 1968 August 21, 2015 On August 21, 1968, the armies of the Warsaw Pact, led by the Soviet Union, entered Czechoslovakia, crushed the reform process begun during the Prague Spring, and began a military occupation of the country that would last for more than two decades. Vaclav Havel spent the first dramatic week of …
NewsCuba reunited August 20, 2015 The Speech by Martin Palous at the Final Dinner of Cuban National Reunion San Juan, Puerto Rico Saturday, August 15, 2015 (The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary) Dear Cuban Friends, It is a real honor for me to be with you here tonight – Catholics celebrating the …
NewsFerdinand Vanek Today August 7, 2015 Enjoy Havel’s classic character transformed into these days by a promising Czech playwright Petr Erbes. The Theatre Faculty in Prague (DAMU) and the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation presented stage readings of student plays that took first three places in the contest for best mini-drama on the theme of “Ferdinand Vanek …
NewsHavel the Artist, Havel the Citizen – Interviews at Columbia University July 13, 2015 In an interview in 2006, Lou Reed, the New York musician, who influenced many rock and punk bands that followed him, confessed: “A heroic intellectual, music loving person, amazing person named President Vaclav Havel, and getting to meet him and talk to him over the years has been a wondrous …
NewsIntern / Volunteer Position July 12, 2015 The Vaclav Havel Library Foundation (VHLF) is seeking a creative intern / volunteer to assist the Executive Director with the preparation of website information, working with social media, archival and web research, and occasional events. The ideal candidate should be interested in the areas of human rights, politics, Eastern European …
NewsVaclav Havel bust was dedicated in the Irish Parliament on June 18, 2015 July 8, 2015 The bust of Vaclav Havel was dedicated in the Irish Parliament on June 18, 2015, and Havel is the first non-Irishman to be awarded this honor. The funds for the bust were raised by Beta Bajgartova, a Czech photographer living in Dublin. You can watch the documentary of this occasion …
NewsExpressionist Theater and Women’s Underwear July 8, 2015 Source: City Watch www.citywatchla.com / By Bob Gelfand / GELFAND’S WORLD-Guilt is not a new topic in drama, nor is sexual comedy. Vaclav Havel is known to Americans as that unlikely combination, a playwright who became the president of Czechoslovakia. For the next couple of weekends, Havel’s Vanek trilogy is on …
NewsRichard Gere pays homage to Dalai Lama at Czech Film Festival July 7, 2015 Source: Phayul www.phayul.com / By Tenzin Dharpo / Dharamsala, July 5: Hollywood actor Richard Gere, popular around the world for his devotion to the Dalai Lama and support for Tibet, has on Friday said that the year 2015 marked the 80th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama while expressing …
NewsLaunch of RFE broadcasts from Prague recalled on 20th anniversary July 3, 2015 Source: Radio Prague  www.radio.cz / By Ian Willoughby / Wednesday is the 20th anniversary of the launch of Radio Free Europe broadcasts from Prague. The US-funded symbol of the Cold War had moved to the city’s former communist parliament building at the invitation of President Václav Havel, who was keen to …
NewsHeart for Vaclav Havel, Chicago City Hall June 23, 2015 Amb. Michael Zantovsky, the upcoming Director of the Vaclav Havel Library, who will also be joining the VHLF Board of Directors, was one of the dignitaries who unveiled the Heart for Vaclav Havel at Chicago City Hall on June 15, 2015. The dedication was part of Prague Days 2015 in …
EventsHavel was a hero who didn’t disappoint, says Art for Amnesty’s Bill Shipsey June 16, 2015 Source: Český rozhlas / By Ian Willoughby / This Thursday a bust of Václav Havel will be unveiled at Ireland’s Dáil (Parliament), making him the first non-Irishman to be recognised in this way. The man behind the move is barrister Bill Shipsey. The founder of Art for Amnesty, he also …
EventsA wax Heart for Vaclav Havel will be unveiled in Chicago City Hall June 13, 2015 A wax Heart for Vaclav Havel by two Czech sculptors Roman Svejda and Lukas Gavlovsky will be unveiled in Chicago City Hall. The ceremony is a part of Prague Days in Chicago 2015. The sculpture was made of the wax that remained from the candles people lit in the streets when …
The Vaclav Havel Center