On November 17, Czechs commemorate student demonstrations under the Nazi occupation in 1939 and against the Communist regime in 1989. The latter led to the so-called Velvet Revolution which culminated in the appointment of the country’s first non-communist government in more than four decades and the election of Vaclav Havel, a playwright turned dissident, to the post of president. Several concerts, exhibitions, parades, discussions, author’s readings as well as lectures will be held in Prague and other towns or villages in the Czech Republic. Korzo Národní is the biggest organized celebration of the Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day in Prague. It takes place on Národní street, where a student demonstration started the Velvet Revolution. The program of the event consists of various artistic performances on the street – theatre, performances, exhibitions, audiovisual installations, and discussions with the local media. The gallery Topic salon, located on Národní, will be displaying an exhibition from 9am to 6pm called 21 děl pro Ukrajinu. The works belong to three famous Ukrainian artists and are now being shown in Prague after previous displays in Berlin and Paris. Aside from Korzo Národní, the Festival of Freedom has also become a mainstay of Czechia’s November 17 celebrations. The main part of the...
By Maegan Comer-Anglo American University The exhibition “Mucha: The Family Collection” currently at Waldstein Riding Hall has been extended through the end of the year, celebrating the legacy of Alphonse Mucha through a journey of the vast evolution of his life and works. The exhibition of over 200 carefully selected pieces, including previously unseen works, is on display for an additional three months than originally planned due to popular demand. Born in Moravia in 1860 (at that time within the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Mucha found his big break as a young artist in Paris in December 1894 upon the commissioning of a street poster for the famous stage actress Sarah Bernhardt. From the massive success of his first poster, the distinct “Le Style Mucha” was born. Through his use of organic lines, elegant details, and ornamental features, Mucha became a prominent pioneer of the French Art Nouveau aesthetic at the turn of the twentieth century. The exhibition, divided into six sections, guides visitors through the various stages of Alphonse Mucha’s life and ever-creative endeavors– from his childhood in south Moravia to the years of his formal art education in France. Looking at Mucha as an artist and a man, each portion...
The Czech Republic is considering throwing its hat in the ring to host the U.N.’s COP29 climate summit in 2024, which would put it in contention with a handful of other countries for the massive international conference, its deputy environment minister told Reuters on Monday. “In our consideration of possible hosting, we take into account both logistical and financial challenges for the host country, but also our experience with energy transformation and decarbonisation,” Jan Dusik said in written comments. Dusik said the Czech Republic had not yet decided whether to bid, and would also consider making a joint bid with another country from eastern Europe. Bulgaria has already said it is willing to host the global climate talks. Dusik said several countries from the region have expressed interest in hosting or co-hosting the event. The annual COP meetings draw tens of thousands of delegates, and provide a setting where nearly all countries in the world negotiate joint efforts to avert disastrous climate change and assess their progress. Hosting the U.N. climate event can bring a degree of international prestige and tourist income, but also intense media scrutiny, costs, and logistical problems. The French-hosted COP in 2015 produced the landmark Paris...
Pokoje (Rooms) is an art show that exhibits a cross-section of contemporary student art in an unusual way. The show – which runs until November 20 – takes place over ten days in an empty house in the center of Prague, where students from various universities will transform unused rooms into an exhibition. Each of the studios is given a room, a theme and the freedom to use the space in any way. The result is a site-specific exhibition that brings to life an otherwise unused space for a unique cultural experience. The eleventh edition gives young artists from thirteen universities and several art studios across the Czech Republic the possibility to display their art. This year’s theme is Edges. For the first time in the history of the show we have established cooperation with foreign schools, therefore students from the Hungarian University of Fine Arts, from Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, from Faculty of Fine Arts in Banská Bystrica and from Bard College Berlin will also participate in the show this year. Vistors can experience a tremendously wide range of different projects and media. Entering these small worlds, the audience is able to get a sense of the enjoyment the artist must have had during...
Czech central bank Governor Ales Michl said on Monday the state budget deficit needed to shrink and nominal wages should not rise too quickly next year, as the bank seeks to rein in inflation pressures. “For rate stability, we need two additional things that will cut the circulation of money in the economy, meaning inflation,” Michl wrote in a weekly column for the Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper. He said results, not just words, were needed on the budget and nominal wages should not grow “more than, for example, 5%”. “Simply don’t rev the wage-inflation spiral,” he said. The central bank has held interest rates steady since June, after sharply raising them last year. Inflation hit 18.0% September, its highest level in three decades, but eased to 15.1% last month. Czech National Bank employees last week agreed to cancel previous contracts calling for wage rises corresponding to inflation. Czech real wages fell almost 10% in the second quarter, according to the latest data, and some central bankers see diminishing risks of a wage-inflation spiral. The central bank has forecast nominal wages to rise 6.3% in 2022 and 7.7% in 2023, but to fall 9.4% and 1.2%, respectively in real terms.
COVID-19 could soon be removed from the list of diseases requiring compulsory isolation, Czech Health Minister Vlastimil Valek (TOP 09) told journalists on Saturday, speculating that this might happen in the first half of 2023. The autumn food collection, which took place in some 1,400 shops across the Czech Republic on Saturday, gathered 520 tonnes of food, drugstore and hygiene products, 89 tonnes more than at the similar event in the spring, according to Veronika Lachova, director of the Czech Federation of Food Banks. The average interest rate on newly granted mortgages in Czechia was 5.86 percent in October, up slightly from the 5.83 percent seen the previous month. These rates are the highest recorded in 20 years. Opposition leaders ANO would have come first in elections held at the turn of this month with 26.5 percent of the vote, suggests a poll by the Kantar CZ agency for Czech Television. This represents a fall of 3 percent on the last such survey a month earlier. Czech real wages fell almost 10% in the second quarter, according to the latest data, and some central bankers see diminishing risks of a wage-inflation spiral. The central bank has...
By sticking masks on its forty vehicles, the Prague transport company is spreading awareness about men’s health again this year drawing attention to a dangerous disease and targeting prevention methods. At the beginning of this month, the Prague transport company’s cars with mustaches took to the streets of the capital. For the fifth time in a row, the carrier is one of thirteen carriers in eleven Czech cities that have joined the global awareness campaign for men’s health. “Twenty trams type 15T and twenty SOR buses have grown mustaches in Prague. Not only public transport fans have something to take pictures of,” said Aneta Rehkova, spokesperson for the company. However, according to many, this year the awareness of this preventive action in the capital is a little less “loud” than it was in the past. This is despite the fact that there are more windowed cars in Prague every year. It started with fifteen buses and the same number of trams. “We are trying to raise awareness, just like in previous years,” said Řehková, adding that there is information posted in the cars with a link to the transport company’s website, where everything is listed. “Our drivers are heavily dominated...
Prague’s gastro establishments beat not only all other big cities in our country but also Warsaw and Bratislava in the prices of the best-selling coffee. “Across the Czech, Slovak and Polish markets, we researched the demand for the most popular types of coffee and compared prices. We also looked at how much prices change over time in the Czech Republic and abroad,” comments Petr Menclík, director of Dotykačka, the company that conducted the research. “Compared to Warsaw and Bratislava, Prague has become the least expensive year-on-year, yet coffee prices here remain the highest. Before the covid, the difference in prices in neighboring markets was even more marked,” explains the director “It doesn’t matter whether the business is in the middle of a big city or in a village. All establishments drink a comparable amount of this coffee. Similarly, prices are similar almost everywhere. In the third quarter, they were most often in the range of CZK 39 to 41 in Czech gastro establishments,” summarizes Menclík. However, this does not mean that coffee is not more expensive anywhere. “This range is an average. In about a tenth of Czech establishments, espresso prices exceed CZK 58. Last year, the highest prices for...
Wherever Norwegian electronic music duo Röyksopp goes, curiosity often follows. Since releasing their debut breakout album Melody A.M. in 2001 (which received critical acclaim for its unique amalgam of downtempo, ambient and synth-pop sounds), the duo consisting of Svein Berge and Torbjørn Brundtland has continued to evolve and iterate throughout the four studio albums that followed Röyksopp recently announced the 2023 True Electric tour starting in Sweden on 16th February including dates at London’s O2 Brixton Academy on 19th February and Tempodrom in Berlin on 23rd February. The True Electric tour will be the legendary duo’s first tour since 2017. “With «True Electric» we want to bring the pure and immersive Röyksopp experience of our studio productions to the live stage. This means synths, samplers & sequencers, in a performance where the hero of the show is the music itself. Expect an eclectic set where energetic beats meet vast, transcending soundscapes. True electric – what it says on the tin.” (Röyksopp) This year Röyksopp premiered their audacious live show to festivals in Norway, flamboyant costumes included, reminding everyone why they’re one of the world’s must-see live artists. 2022 has seen these music pioneers innovate once again with their extraordinary Profound Mysteries project, working with...
The Czech minister of the interior, Vít Rakušan, says this winter could see a large new wave of refugees from Ukraine in view of the state of the infrastructure in the country. “If the numbers approached those seen in the first wave following Russia’s invasion it would be difficult for Czechia to deal with the arrivals,” he added. Czechs have the best relationship with Slovakia, followed by Switzerland and Austria, while the war in Ukraine has significantly worsened Czech public attitudes towards Russia, which is now the least positively viewed by Czechs, according to a poll conducted by the STEM agency. Czech-grown Christmas trees are set to go up in price by around 10 percent this year, the Association of Christmas Tree Growers told the Czech News Agency. The reasons are increased costs of energy, transport and fertilisers. The energy company E.ON will also increase the price of electricity and gas supplies from the new year. As with other suppliers, most customers will pay a capped price for energy. Customers with normal consumption will pay about CZK 300 a month extra. The Czech minister of health, Vlastimil Válek, says those who test positive for Covid-19 may...
Over 1,400 shops, including stores owned by major chains, take part in the event in which people can donate non-perishable foodstuffs that will then be redistributed to those in need. “There has been a marked increase in the organisation’s clients this year due to a sharp rise in food and energy costs. Any food will help us,” said Helena Balabánová, Chairwoman of the Food Bank in Ostrava. The situation is reported to be worst in Prague and the northern regions, where an increasing number of people are asking for help in securing basic food supplies. The groceries and drug-store goods will be delivered to single mothers, seniors, asylum-seekers, and others in need. The annual wave of solidarity is also highlighted by volunteers who will help put the collection into life. In most shops goods are being collected by volunteers between 8 am and 6 pm. People can also donate products bought online. Citizens can donate food from the retail chains Albert, Billa, Globus, Kaufland, Lidl, Makro Cash & Carry, Tesco, and Rossmann. Rohlik.cz and Tesco Online stores will also join the National Food Collection. The National Food Collection is organized by BpS – the Business for Society in cooperation with...
Ukraine’s state-owned military enterprise Ukroboronprom and the Intergovernmental Agency for Defense Cooperation (AMOS) under the Czech Ministry of Defense signed an agreement to establish a joint defense industrial cluster. The initiative would involve joint Ukrainian-Czech production of military vehicles, ammunition of various calibers, development of maintenance hubs, as well as technological cooperation through joint research centers. The plan would pool manufacturing capacities of Ukrainian and Czech defense companies, coupled with broader international financial support. “The Czech Republic will become a reliable industrial support for the Ukrainian defense and the defense industry,” said Tomáš Kopečný, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Czech Republic. As previously reported, Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defense of Ukraine, announced that the defense industry of Ukraine has established the production of 122-mm and 152-mm artillery shells. New artillery shells for Soviet-era systems have already been tested. Reznikov also emphasized that Ukraine currently does not plan to produce 155-mm ammunition for modern artillery systems. On November 5, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the Netherlands, the United States, and the Czech Republic for providing Kyiv with 90 T-72 main battle tanks.
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