Vaclav Havel Library

Thirty years ago, on March 27th 1996, Her Majesty Elizabeth II, the Queen of the United Kingdom, visited the Czech Republic. It was one of the most significant, prestigious, and long-anticipated visits to our country, accompanied by an exceptionally strict protocol.

The Queen was accompanied by her husband, Prince Philip, and their programme included encounters with Czech traditions, including a tasting of traditional Czech cuisine.
However, these strict rules did not apply to the spontaneous and enthusiastic welcome in the streets or to the unforgettable atmosphere in Brno.

Details of their programme can be found in the presidential calendar at kalendarvh.cz.
Photo: Alan Pajer

We are delighted that Václav Havel’s work is reaching far beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. One example is the exhibition Václav Havel’s Anticodes, which is currently on view in Agrinio, Greece.

If you are interested in borrowing one of our exhibitions for your institution, you can find an overview of them in our exhibition archive:
https://edu.vaclavhavel.cz/cs/vystavy

"LOOK, HAVEL!"

Have you ever met Václav Havel, or perhaps caught sight of him from a distance? Did you take a photograph of him — or do you know someone who did? Become part of the Havel 90 anniversary project!

Česká centra/Czech Centres, together with Knihovna Václava Havla, invite members of the general public abroad to submit their photographs of Václav Havel to mark the 90th anniversary of his birth.
Ideally, the photographs should be accompanied by the story behind them. All submissions will be carefully catalogued and preserved in the Václav Havel Library Digital Archive. Selected photographs and stories will be showcased internationally as part of an exhibition project.

Please send your photographs and stories by 30th April 2026 to:
[email protected] and [email protected]

Image: Václav Havel and The Rolling Stones (Prague, 1995); photo Ondřej Němec

At this year's Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made what many are calling the most important foreign policy speech in recent years. His remarkable address was anchored in the philosophy of the Czech dissident and president Vaclav Havel, whom he quoted at length in order to illustrate his moral, values-based vision of a new international order. In an excellent new article following that speech, the director of the Knihovna Václava Havla / Vaclav Havel Library, Tomáš Sedláček, goes deeper into this "revival" of Havel via Canada, describing how Havel's philosophy is more relevant than ever, as democracies and open societies come under increasing attack from a rising, multi-pronged authoritarianism.

Weight of the World was lucky enough to speak to Tomas late last year. Our discussion is a perfect companion piece to Carney's speech, and Tomas's recent article on the renewed relevance of Havel and the necessity of his thought as democratic societies still based on the rule of law plot a path forward in today's fractous world. Links to both Tomas's new article and our conversation with Tomas are in the comments below.

This past Friday, the Václav Havel Library devoted the evening to the fate of Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur intellectual nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and laureate of the Václav Havel Prize for Human Rights, who is serving a life sentence in China.

🎥You can now watch the recording of the evening on our HavelChannel: https://youtu.be/PkYd56MhWt0

Sinologist Marie Holzman, activist Teng Biao, and researcher at the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences Dilnur Reyhan discussed Tohti's case and the situation of the Uyghurs. The evening began with a few words from Jewer Ilham, Tohti's daughter, who joined virtually.
The debate was opened by Senator Pavel Fischer and moderated by Magdalena Slezáková from Deník N.

Photo (c) Ondřej Němec