Newsletter Českého centra - leden 2025

Twelve months have gone by at the speed of light; this can also be said of the first quarter of the 21st century which the year 2025 is just about to mark. But before I venture into our programme plans and this year’s themes, I would like to share a brief look back to 2024. Based on your abundant feedback and comments as well as event attendance, I’m delighted to say that it was an amazing, and in many respects extraordinary, year. Let us recall the celebration of Czech music throughout the year at various international festivals - Leamington, Newbury, Chilterns, Edinburgh and London. More than thirty concerts and events attended and well received by enthusiastic audiences at the Barbican, Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Royal Albert Hall. Furthermore, through the various exhibition projects spanning indigenous cultures and space exploration, the contemporary gaming industry and visual art, as well as developing and mentoring the Women in Focus series and the Zátopek charity run, we have actively engaged with local communities and strengthened our connections and collaborations. Lastly, the Czech Centre’s flagship Made in Prague Festival, the prime cultural presentation of Czechia in the UK, drove unparalleled public interest as well as opportunities to work in partnership with leading institutions on the London cultural scene. As a friend of mine and a wine maker in his modest way would say, it was truly not a bad year.

As the beginning of the New Year offers an array of opportunities for various resolutions, you will hear none here; nevertheless, I would like to share an idea of the programming priorities and themes we would like to explore and present to you. One of our new themes will be well-being and mental health via a series of programmes that will contribute through art activities and culture in general. We are thrilled to be teaming up with EUNIC and British partners to further develop this new line of programming. We will continue to foster our community engagement from the very beginning of the year with an exciting project on Identity that will open in our gallery spaces and at a special event at the Design Museum. You can also rely on all the good things that are already in our institutional DNA, such as showcases of vibrant Czech cinema, the Czech Philharmonic back at the Barbican, the Women in Focus series centre stage, Czech beer at our events and of course the 29th Made in Prague Festival, to name just a few. 

In January I would like to invite you to the once-a-year opportunity to witness and enjoy the immersive art installation and spectacular lightshows at the Winter Lights festival, Canary Wharf. This year is very special as among the selected eleven installations will be the leading Czech sculptor Benedikt Tolar with his internationally acclaimed AJ VANA BE state of the art installation.

I would also like to invite you to join us for the British film debut of The Hungarian Dressmaker which is based on the real-life story of WWII atrocities against Jewish communities in Central Europe. The film screening, as well as the upcoming play The Story of A Book at the Westminster Synagogue in February, will mark Holocaust Memorial Day. 

I’m looking forward to seeing you at these and many other events in 2025.

Přemysl Pela
Director of the Czech Centre

Image: Benedikt Tolar: AJ VANA BE