Ten Years Without Václav Havel, Czech Republic’s First President and Democratic Icon

To commemorate ten years since the death of President Václav Havel, an event “10 years without V.H.” will be organized in Prague on December 18th. Credit: 10 let bez V. H.

Czech Rep, November 25 (BD) – The ten-year anniversary of the death of President Václav Havel will be commemorated at an event in Prague on December 18th.

Václav Havel is one of the key figures in the history of the Czech Republic. He was fiercely opposed to the Communist regime, and was repeatedly the victim of persecution by Communist authorities. He was one of the leading exponents of the socio-political movement known as Charter 77, which emphasised respect for human rights and international agreements.

From Charter 77, political and social resistance movements were born which led directly to the Velvet Revolution and the fall of the decades-long communist regime.

Václav Havel was the last President of the Czechoslovak Republic, although he resigned from this post in 1992 in protest at the division of the Czech and Slovak republics, as a staunch opponent of the split. Havel then became the first president of the newly formed Czech Republic.

PROGRAM

The celebrations will take place at different locations in Prague, and will include screenings, photo exhibitions, concerts, discussions, films, processions, videos and more.

– an exhibition of known and unknown photographs, “10 years without V. H.”, will be displayed in the passage of Paláce Lucerna;

– screening of films about Václav Havel, including the award-winning “The art of dissent” will be shown in Kino Lucerna;

-a “10 years without V. H.” concert in Lucerna Music Bar, with many artists and speakers in attendance, as well as an afternoon discussion and evening concert in Rock Café;

-the video project “10 years without V.H.”, featuring colleagues and friends of Václav Havel, but also those who have never met him, but who hold the former president and his contributions in high esteem.

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