Compact archive May 25, 2007

The Wallenstein Riding School presents one of the outstanding painters of the modern art Jan Zrzavy (1890 – 1977). His works come back after a very successful exhibition 17 years ago.

The exhibition displays more than 150 works of art. According to the curator of the exhibition Zuzana Novotna, the main part is focused on Zrzavy’s best known paintings, such as Kleopatra or Antikrist. Other sections pay attention to his drawings, book illustrations or collected pictures of this famous person.

The exhibition is open until 16th September 2007. The entrance fee is 150 CZK (reduced 70 CZK, family 200 CZK). Visitors can buy a calender for 2008 with Zrzavy’s paintings.

Prague might have a memorial of the parachutists who assassinated the Reich governor of Bohemia and Moravia Reinhard Heydrich (1904 – 1942). It happened in Prague-Liben on 27th May 1942.

The representatives of Prague-Liben council are consulting this plan with the Academy of Sciences and The Army of the Czech Republic. They are discussing where and what shape the memorial should have. The street where Heydrich was assassinated doesn’t exist any more.

Reinhard Heydrich was attacked by Czech parachutists Jan Kubis and Josef Gabcik. Although he was recovering well at first, he died of the blood poisoning a few days later. As a revenge the Nazi killed thousands of innocent Czech people. The parachutists were betrayed and found their death at their hiding place, the Church of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Resslova street in the centre of Prague.

Children will celebrate the International Children’s Day soon. 1st June will bring them many activities to do in the Czech capital. Besides Bambiriada on Strelecky and Detsky islands, they can take part in Pirates’ adventures and many other interesting activities.

If the children are fond of the Pirates of Caribbean they will definitely enjoy the adventures that will take place in the park Riegrovy sady on 1st June. The day will be full of costumes, people on stilts, a pirate dance party, or various sport and art disciplines. They can help the captain of the Black Pearl to discover the old valuable treasure.

This Sunday 27th May (between 10:00 and 18:00) children can go to the O2 Zlute Lazne (from metro station Karlovo namesti exit Palackeho namesti continue by trams 3, 16, 17, 21, 52 to stop Dvorce) to try fencing, charming or playing with Indians. They can play with a clown, see puppet theatre, play streetbal, table tennis, skate, climb a wall, or do many other activities.

The Czech Republic and the new member states of the EU have been trying to establish the visa-free relations with the USA. From the EU states only 15 “old” member states plus Slovenia can visit the USA with visas. The Czech Republic together with other 7 states (Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia) sent a letter to the members of Congress to complain about the recent additions to the bill draft that concerns the visa requirement.

The additions say that, in order to establish the visa-free relations, the number of denied application for visas shoudn’t be higher than 10 percent out of all applications. Even though the Czech Republic may meet the stricter condition, the Czech government want to show solidarity with other states, such as Poland, Slovakia or Lithuania.

The Czech Republic and other countries mentioned above hired one of the most expensive American lobby companies, the Dutko Worldwide, to lobby for changes in the American visa policy towards European countries.

The best tattoo makers will show their art in Prague on the 9th International Tattoo Convention Prague which starts today in the Sport Hall Slavia (Vladivostocka 10 street) in Prague-Vrsovice.

75 tattoo artists will offer their services for festival prices, so if you’re thinking of marking your body with a tattoo, this might be the right moment. The festival will also offer a lot of piercing jewelry for sale.

The three-day festival will be held until Sunday 27th May. It starts today at 13:00 (the other days at 10:00) and finishes at 23:00. The tickets cost 200 CZK (8 EUR). To get to the official sites, click here.

Yesterday we informed you about the two-day meeting of the heads of many European countries in Brno, the second largest city of the Czech Republic. Let’s have a look at their programme in more detail.

The official programme of the 14th summit of the European presidents starts today. At 10:00 the presidents meet on the namesti Svobody in Brno. At 11:30 they pose for photographs in front of the Internacional hotel. At 12:00 they have lunch together. At 14:30 the sitting starts in Rotunda pavilion in Brno Exhibition Ground. Among the topics could be the future of the EU, the possible U.S. bases in the Czech Republic and Poland or the province of Kosovo. The presidents will spend the evening at Spilberk castle.

Who are the presidents? They come from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Montenegro, the Czech Republic (the hosting country), Croatia, Italy, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Austria, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia. They are accompanied by their wives, who plan to meet the students of the Faculty of Theatre of JAMU (Janacek Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno). Next year the meeting of presidents will take place in Macedonia.