We welcome suggestions for lectures and other events: please send them to events@czechfriends.net
LECTURE IN LONDON 'On Czechoslovak History - Rough Seas Around Bohemia'
Dr Mary Heimann, the author of Czechoslovakia: The
State That Failed(Yale
University Press, 2011), will talk about the controversy surrounding her recent
history of the Czechoslovak state and consider the role of the historian in
confronting and making sense of the recent past.
Czechoslovakia: The State That Failed was first published in 2009 and
attracted over 100 reviews, including in the TLS, The Economist, Foreign Affairs, Times Higher Education Supplement, Literární noviny, Lidové noviny, The Financial Times, The Prague Post, The Foreign Service Journal and
Tribune.
Dr Heimann was educated at Vassar
College in the USA and at Magdalen College, Oxford, is a Fellow of the Royal
Historical Society and a Reader in Modern History at the University of
Strathclyde in Glasgow. She is an
energetic campaigner for the preservation of Czech, Polish and Russian language
provision in Scotland
Tickets £15 per person including a glass of wine. events@czechfriends.net You may download an order form/flyer (335KB) by clicking here.
RECITAL IN LONDON October 2011 Martin Škampa, cello, and Michal Rezek, piano, performed works by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Fauré and Martinů in the Embassy of Slovakia, London. The Škampa-Rezek Duo was founded in 1992 and has already given more than 450 concerts. Their repertoire covers works from the baroque period to the present day. They produced three CDs containing sonatas by Boccherini, Francoeur, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Martinu, Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
WORKING HOLIDAY September 2011 The Friends held a working holiday at Červeny Dvůr in southern
Bohemia. The party cleared the ruin
of one of the ornamental cottages, which form part of the English
Landscape setting for the chateau, previously the summer residence of
the Schwarzenberg family and now a hospital for treating addictions.Accommodation was in the restored stable block, with
meals eaten in the hospital canteen. The Czech host organisation
organised a cultural programme, including a visit to nearby
Unesco-listed Český Krumlov Castle, which has one of the best-preserved
Baroque theatres in Europe.
A further work party is to be arranged for 2012 to continue the restoration work. Please contact us if you would like to join the party. peter.jamieson@czechfriends.net Photo courtesy of Robin Lawrie
LECTURE IN LONDON May 2011'Our Slav Acropolis': The Transformation of the Prague Castle under Masaryk. Dr. Irena Murray-Žantovská talked about the work of the Slovene architect Jože Plečnik, active in Prague in the 1930s. Irena Murray is an architectural historian and curator, with special interest in Modern Movement, architectural publishing and intellectual history.
The Castle fell into disrepair and remained almost untouched for 300 years of Habsburg rule following the death of Rudolf II. Once back in Czech hands, urgent attention was needed. Masaryk was determined to transform the castle from a royal seat to a democratic symbol that would also reflect the past and express the great traditions of the Czech nation. J. Plečnik,a professor at Ljubljana University, considered the project so prestigious that for fifteen years he refused to accept any payment for his work.Unconstrained by budgets, Plečnik set out by opening the Castle Gardens for the public's enjoyment before embarking on the creation of the presidential apartment using mostly stone and wood as his favourite materials.
LECTURE IN LONDON April 2011 Renaissance Princely Castles in the Czech Lands by Caroline Cannon-Brookes. Bohemia and Moravia are remarkably rich in late Renaissance secular architecture with many superb residences with arcaded courtyards and fine interior decoration. The lecture explored a period when characteristics of the Italian Renaissance were taken up by patrons in the Czech Lands, most of whom were associated with the Court. Caroline Cannon-Brookes is an art historian and a lecturer at Leeds University.
LECTURE IN LONDON November 2010 in association with the Garden History Society. Inka Truxová currently works for the National Heritage Institute in Prague as a specialist in historical parks and gardens on the territory of the Czech Republic. Her lecture provided an historical introduction of garden’s history in the Czech Republic with examples of the sites - country houses and their parks and gardens.
VISIT TO BOUGHTON HOUSE, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE May 2010 Our house tour, led by excellent house guides, included the State Rooms with
their painted ceilings, magnificent portraits, tapestries and furnishings; the
unique Boughton armoury collection; the Great Hall, with its painted ceiling and
the spectacular Great Staircase with wrought-iron balustrade and
wall-paintings.
RECITAL IN LONDON LÁDA VALEŠOVÁ May 2010 This event was held in the Embassy of Slovakia, London. Lada Valešová, an outstanding concert pianist, graduated from the Prague Conservatoire and Prague Music Academy. Awarded a full scholarship, she continued her studies in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she is now a professor.
LECTURE IN LONDON BY THE ARCHITECT EVA JIŘIČNÁ January 2010 This event was held in the Embassy of the Czech Republic, London. The famous architect talked about taking inspiration from natural formsand how she works with historic buildings.
LECTURE: MUSIC AND MINSTRELS October 2009 Lecture and music recital by Mary Remnant, with particular reference to Bohemia, held in London on Wednesday, 14th October, 2009. Mary Remnant showed slides of medieval minstrels, accompanying them on reconstructed instruments of the period.
VISIT TO STOWE HOUSE June 2009 Visitors were greeted by Anna McEvoy, Visitor Services Manager for the Stowe House Preservation Trust. Richard Wheeler, the National Trust’s Parks and Gardens Curator for the south of England, gave an ad lib talk about the architects of the landscape gardens,Vanburgh, Bridgeman, Kent, Gibbs and Brown.
LECTURE IN LONDON
EXHIBITION IN LONDON, LATER IN 2012 ‘Church
365’ www.Kostel365.cz
WORKING HOLIDAY