Czech and Slovak Cultural Center

By Dr. Josef A. Mestenhauser

I wanted to write something different about Vaclav Havel and his passing than the meager media disappointedly covered. Media have a tendency to explain people by shortcuts, finding a label everybody recognizes and then placing a person into the box with that label. For Vaclav Havel who disliked these labels of being a playwright turned dissident these categories are insufficient and inaccurate. The problem is not only one of scale but also of historical significance and meanings. Theater has had a special significance in the Czech and Slovak history because it is associated with national awakening that may have saved the Czech language from extinction. Anybody who is associated with this tradition is not writing just for entertainment of people, but for a cause of solidifying national consciensness.  He prestige of the theater touched nearly everybody and people started creating an entire network of voluntary theater clubs and traveling puppet groups that still exist today and that neither the Nazis nor the communists could control. Being a dissident is relatively common with many examples from individual countries like Burma, China, India, Ukraine and many others. In comparison with these dissidents, Havel was a global dissident who challenged the entire Soviet empire that ruled almost half of the world on issues on which this empire was based, namely to turn everybody into one type of a socialist personality, to gain compliance through fear and to punish those who do not fit this model.

Read the rest of this entry →

You are invited to join us for a unique learning experience. Jake Slegers, Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce will speak (via SKYPE) on the Economic and Political Development in Slovakia over the past 15 years and the role of the American Chamber of Commerce in Business Affairs.

Family Night will take place on Sunday, January 15th, 2012 from 4:30-6:30 pm at C.S.P.S. Hall, 383 Michigan Street, Saint Paul, MN 55102. This is a fun event for the whole family. Come and enjoy Czech and Slovak conversation and fellowship. We all will make animal masks and play “vybíjená”. Please bring a dish to share for the potluck dinner.

Donation of $5.00/Sokol or CSCC members, $10.00/non member families is appreciated.

• Click [HERE] to list pre-registered families

This eloquent play is an activist fantasy, first produced at the National Art Theater of Prague justafter World War I. Its darkly comic view of the modern world travels well into the 21st Century. Come observe the Čapek brothersʼ millennium bugs, as they demonstrate their tiny sexualtensions, their miniscule materialism, and their microscopic machines of war. The performance is presented under the sponsorship of the Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota, and it is dedicated to the memory of Vaclav Havel.

When: Saturday, January 7th, 2012, at 7:30PM

Where: Whiting Proscenium Theater, Rarig Center at the University of Minnesota, 330 21st Ave S.,Minneapolis

Tickets:$10 adults / $5 seniors, students and children. Purchase online at any time HERE.

or

by phone: 612-624-2345 starting on January 3rd, 2012.

The Board wishes season’s greetings to our friends of the Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota. We thank you for the many ways you support the Center – through membership, attending events, and contributions. We hope you will continue membership with CSCC and feel free to submit ideas on new programs or interests.

We are offering free membership to potential members and invite you to accept this invitation online. You may register new members by visiting cs.center.org/join and complete the online sign up form. As we enter the New Year, we want to keep you informed of the Center’s activities and programs. There is a lot of information posted on our website along with exciting news of our lecture series, literary ventures, and other programs.

In the past, we have supported our programs in large part through annual membership dues. Presently, we invite you to make a fully tax-deductible contribution to help us continue the Center’s programming. Any amount helps, and you may contribute online at cs-center.org/donate.

Happy Holidays and best wishes for a prosperous and healthy New Year!

From the CSCC Board of Directors,

Warm regards,

Allyn Johnson, President
Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota

A Book of Condolence for former President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Havel  will be opened at the Czech Honorary Consul Office, Sokol Hall (CSPS) 385 Michigan St., St Paul, MN on Wednesday, December 21, 2011 between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.  Anyone who would wish to send a condolence, but is unable to get to the Honorary Consul Office can e-mail their message to me and I will include it with the Book that I will be sending to the Czech Embassy in Washington D.C.  My email address is: vanasek@bevcomm.net

“He was the most famous Czech, recognized all over the world. Unfortunately, he was more welcome and revered abroad than at home.  Though a modest and shy man, he stood his ground when meeting and dealing with the world’s most powerful people.  I only hope that at least now we will realize what a man we had in our fellow citizen, and will look up to him as an example.”  Karel Schwarzenberg

I am deeply touched by the kind words and floral tributes from many Americans who are expressing their compassion with the Czech nation mourning the loss of a man of great courage and profound wisdom.  President Havel was not only one of the greatest Czechs of our times but also a true European visionary who has always kept very close to his heart our friends and compatriots in the United States.  Though he will be sorely missed, the legacy of his respect for human rights and fight for democracy shall prevail.”  Czech Ambassador to the United States Petr Gandalovic

Robert Vanasek
Honorary Consul, Czech Republic

Former Czech president and Nobel peace laureate Vaclav Havel, hero of the Velvet Revolution that gave his country independence from Soviet rule in 1989, died on this Sunday (12/18/2011) at the age of 75, his office said.

Havel, who served as head of state from 1989 to 2003, died in his sleep at dawn after a lengthy illness, his spokeswoman Sabina Tancevova said.

Czech and Slovak Cultural Center would like to invite you to The World We Live In (The Insect Comedy) by Joseph and Karel Capek.

The Insect Comedy, by Josef and Karel Capek, is an activist fantasy, first produced at the National Art Theater of Prague in the period just following World War 1. Its darkly comic view of the modern world has traveled well into the 21stCentury. Come observe the Capek brothersʼ millennium bugs, as they demonstrate their tiny sexual tensions, their miniscule materialism, and their microscopic machines of war.

When: December 7, 8, 9, 10, 2011 at 7:30 PM

Where: Black Box Theater, Arts High School
6125 Olson Memorial Highway, Golden Valley, MN 55422

Tickets: Adults (College students and older) $8; Youth & Seniors (Seniors 62 years and older, Children and students through 12thgrade) $5. Perpich Alumni $5. Current Perpich students and staff, free.Tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. We encourage patrons to arrive no later than 30 minutes prior to showtime.

Visit http://www.mcae.k12.mn.us/2011_2012_AHS_Performance_Calendar.pdf for more information.

The Czech and Slovak Cultural Center of Minnesota and the University of Minnesota Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development are pleased to continue our fall/spring lecture series on defining events that shaped the Czech and Slovak Republics.

You are invited to join us for a unique learning experience on “The 1944 Slovak National Uprising” by Dr. Gary Cohen, Department of History, University of Minnesota on Saturday, November 19, 2011 at from 9:00am – 12:00pm at the University of Minnesota.

Location:  Carlson School of Management, Room 2-224. Carlson is located on the West Bank Campus at 321 Nineteenth Avenue South.  A skyway connects the building to the 19th Avenue Parking Ramp.