Discussion forums

Two renovation projects: Arnold Villa and a Memorial in Brněnec

The longest-running Brno preschool, located in the Arnold Villa, was closed in 2012 due to structural defects, and the villa has been deteriorating since then. The building was declared a monument and included on the list of the most endangered monuments in the Czech Republic. Two years ago, Meeting Brno hosted a public debate on the fate of this interesting building, adjacent to the functionalist Villa Tugendhat. At the moment, the design documentation for the building permit is being completed by the City District Brno-Sever. The study and information on the design documentation will be presented by Miriam Kolářová, Deputy Mayor of the City District Brno-Sever and 1st Deputy Mayor of Brno, Petr Hladík. Also present will be all those who endeavour to rescue the villa, including representatives of the Cultural Centre of Josef Arnold.

In the second part of the evening, Daniel Löw-Beer will present a memorial project for the site of a former family factory in Brněnec, which became a refuge for a group of Jews from the well-known Schindler’s List during World War II.

Generation „N“: Deutschböhme

A Czech-German documentary Generation „N“: Deutschböhme follows the fate of Czech Germans through the eyes of present-day people in their thirties. Four witnesses from the Sudetenland tell their story, two of whom had to remain in Czechoslovakia after 1945, and two have been displaced. In the film, the filmmakers, along with witnesses, set out for their original homes, where they become guides and interpreters of (extinct) landscapes.

Directors: Veronika Kupková, Olga Komarevtseva (2016, 83 min, Czech-German version with subtitles). The film screening will be followed by a debate with its author, Veronika Kupková.

The programme is held in cooperation with Skautský institut.

„Cape of Good Hope“: a concert with the announcement of the Year of Reconciliation 2020-2021

In the coming two years, this country has several anniversaries of major historical events ahead of it that have divided us over the centuries: 600 years since the declaration of a Crusade against the Hussites, 400 years since the Battle of White Mountain, 400 years since the execution of 27 Czech lords on the Old Town Square in Prague. The purpose of the Year of Reconciliation is to touch these historical milestones together, leave aside mutual remorse and infinite measuring of the shares of guilt: „Suffering remains suffering, whatever its originator and at any time.“ (Declaration of Reconciliation and Common Future, Brno).

Inspired by the Brno Year of Reconciliation 2015 and the Pilgrimage Programme of the Hussite Festivities 2015 „we express our desire that all past wrongs be forgiven so that, not burdened by the past, and in mutual cooperation, we may turn towards a common Future.“

Guests: S. Francesca Šimuniová, Daniel Ženatý, Pavel Hošek, Alexandr Flek, Jana Merunková, Miriam Kolářová and others.

Musical accompaniment: CM Pajtáš

A spiritual dimension of the army: discussion with military chaplains + workshop for children

What is it like when one of the parents leaves for a military mission – perhaps to Afghanistan? The joys and worries of the soldier are the joys and worries of the military chaplain. Respect for the freedom of each individual is at the core for the chaplain; it is above all about listening, about sharing the work and personal joys and difficulties in respect of confidentiality. In their ministry, army chaplains cooperate with military psychologists, commanders, and all who care for the human dimension of the lives of soldiers and their families.

Marking the 20th anniversary of joining NATO.

Guests:

Tomáš Holub – Bishop, founder of the military chaplains ministry in the Czech Army

Jiří Šedivý – Czech ambassador to NATO

Pavel Brichta, captain, chaplain of the 4. Rapid Deployement Brigade Žatec (at the turn of 2014-2015 chaplain of the 3rd Guard Company of BAF RS the ACR Bagram Task Force (Afghanistan) and in 2018 the chaplain of the SR SR BAF RS (Decisive Support) Afghanistan.

Zdeněk Mikula, colonel, deputy commander of the 7th Motorized Brigade. In 2004-2006 deployed in Kosovo, in 2007-2008 in a foreign operation NATO training mission in Iraq and at the turn of 2011 – 2012 commander of the 3rd unit OMLT Wardak.

A workshop for children titled Stories of Great Figures will take place at the same time (16:30 – 18:00).

Crafts and activities for children over two years of age. Babysitting provided.

Throughout the day, the Husa na provázku Theatre Bar is open.

The stories of the books “Great Women From a Small Country” and “White Crows” + workshop for children

Be inspired and enriched by the stories of women and children who, despite difficult obstacles in life, did not give up, persevered and achieved their goal. The books Great Women From a Small Country and White Crows were created to support both girls and boys, as well as women and men in building their own confidence, and to show them that everyone has a chance to be successful on their way through life.

Guests:

Renata Mrázová and Denisa Prošková – the authors of the book Big Women From a Small Country

Jana Merunková – author of the book White Crows, founder of the yourchance association

Martina Viktorie Kopecká – pastor

and other story protagonists

A workshop for children titled Stories of Great Figures will take place at the same time (15:00 – 16:30).

Crafts and activities for children over two years of age. Babysitting provided.

Throughout the day, the Husa na provázku Theatre Bar is open.

UKRAINE I Donbas Defense

Premiere of Voxpot news channel.

The conflict simmers in Eastern Ukraine for the sixth year, claiming more than thirteen thousand casualties with no resolution in sight. With the war slowly becoming a part of the day-to-day life, the Sea of Azov emerged as its newest epicenter. The Sea washes the banks of Mariupol, an industrial city of half-a-million, a few miles from the frontline.

The footage will be presented by Voxpot reporters Aneta Václavíková, Vojtěch Boháč and Ondřej Zacha.

The screening will be followed by a debate.

In Other Words: the final debate of six writers

The culmination of a series of discussions with individual authors, a joint discussion panel focused on the situation in post-communist countries’ society, the most pressing problems of these countries and their relationship to the West / East.

Guests: Viktor Horváth (HU), Halyna Kruk (UA), Martyna Bunda (PL), Tanja Dückers (DE), Petra Hůlová (CZ), Alexandra Salmela (SK)

Moderator: Petr Vizina – journalist and cultural commentator, head of the Cultural News Department of Czech Television

Film: Iluze (Illusion)

In an original concept of a film as a computer game, the author presents a personal report from Budapest, where she spent one year studying. The spectator is assigned a role of a participant in the game and goes through several levels, which put him in everyday moments touching the sensitive points of contemporary Hungarian society: he views the capital through the eyes of a tourist, but mostly he is forced to reflect, from a subjective point of view of Hungarian citizens, on the freedom of art, the right to education, the issue of medical care and, on a comprehensive scale, a debatable political situation where the name of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is repeatedly mentioned.

Director: Kateřina Turečková (2018, 60 minutes, Czech and English subtitles)

The screening will be followed by a debate with the author Kateřina Turečková.

Dissent in Brno

A discussion about Brno dissent will present the specifics of the local environment in comparison with Prague or other cities, its diversity in opinions, content and form – a left wing, the hidden church, an underground university or contacts with the official environment. It will also recall the central character and role of doc. Jaroslav Šabata. The samizdat of Brno and its many forms and provenance are undoubtedly a topic in its own right. Today’s younger generation could certainly be interested in how the passing on of information, calling for meetings, dissemination of messages at a time without computers and the Internet worked, what the Prague – Brno connection was like, how samizdat was formed, where and how dissident meetings were held or what are the opinions of debate participants on the development after 1989.

Discussion participants:

Anna Šabatová – signatory of Charter 77 and co-founder of VONS (Committee for the Defence of the Unfairly Persecuted), daughter of Jaroslav Šabata, today Ombudsman of the Czech Republic

Milan Uhde – signatory of Charter 77playwright, publicist, politician, after 1989 among others Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Petr Pospíchal – signatory of Charter 77 and political prisoner, after 1989 among others, a member of President Václav Havel’s office and the ambassador to Bulgaria

Petr Fiala – before 1989 a student participant in the underground university and the hidden church, after 1989 the co-founder of the Department of Political Science and Rector of Masaryk University in Brno, now Chairman of the Civic Democratic Party

Petr Oslzlý – co-organizer of secret flat seminars of the underground university, in 1989 one of the organizers of the November strike of theatres, now Rector of the Janáček Academy of Arts

Jan Kratochvil – signatory of Charter 77, after 1989 founder and owner of a private museum of Czech and Slovak exile in Brno

Programme partner: Schrott Gallery.

Austria and Czechoslovak Dissent

The Prague Spring has sparked an unprecedented wave of sympathy with the Czech nation among the Austrian public. This positive attitude persisted even during the so-called normalization and was reflected in a number of activities to help the Czechoslovak opposition. Georg Breuer, expelled from the Communist Party of Austria during the „normalization process“, founded the „Solidarity Committee with the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic“ at the turn of 1972/73; Vienna’s Burgtheater director Achim Benning has included Václav Havel and Pavel Kohout in the repertoire; the Social Democratic Federal Chancellor Bruno Kreisky organized an action to support approximately four hundred emigrants from among the Charter 77 signatories under the leadership of Přemysl Janýr senior. The Catholic Church was also active: for example, they sent papers and medication to Prague Cardinal František Tomášek or organized a petition to support persecuted Catholics. In the Austrian People’s Party, Erhard Busek together with Emil Brix supported Catholic and civil-democratic dissidents. People’s Party Chairman Alois Mock, Foreign Minister since 1986, met with opposition leaders every time he visited the Eastern Bloc countries.

Discussion participants:

Přemysl Janýr jr. – signatory of Charter 77, later resident in Austria, publicist (A/CZ)

Karel Schwarzenberg – politician, former minister of Foreign Affairs of the CR, resident in Austria until 1989, supporter of Czechoslovak dissidents (CZ)

Emil Brix – diplomat, historian and publicist, director of the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, an active supporter of Czechoslovak dissidents before 1989 (A)

Niklas Perzi – historian, Centre for Migration Research in St. Pölten, co-publisher of a book titled „Neighbours. Czech – Austrian History“ (A)

Moderator: Mojmír Jeřábek – director of the Czech Centre in Vienna (CZ)

The programme takes place in cooperation with the Centre for Migration Research (ZMF) in St. Pölten (A).

The programme will take place in German, interpreting will be available.