Czech
the News
May/June
2003, Volume XII, Number 3
Contents:
Czechs vote YES, the CR to join the EU in May 2004
European Parliament approves Enlargement of the EU
Message by the Ambassador
New Defense Attaché Arrives in Washington
Philadelphia Welcomes Czech Senators
Czech Senators visit Illinois
Defense Minister visits Czech medical team in Basra
Greek Premier discusses EU Future with Czech
Counterpart
Czech President discusses
EU future with Italian Politicians
Czech military hospital
opens in Iraq
NATO proposes CR form
multi-national battalion
Kostelka to be new
Defence Minister
Introducing the Czech
Government: Finance Minister: Bohuslav Sobotka
Czech Academy of Sciences
awards Professor Winters with Honorary Medal
Economic Digest
What’s new in the Czech
Economy
Sokolfest in Valparaiso,
July 2 - 6, 2003
CS Rockfest USA 2003
Sonja Bullaty´s Kafka's
Prague
Czechs vote YES, the CR to join the EU in May 2004
Czech citizens votes YES in their referendum on the
accession of the country to the European Union. The turn-out rate came to 54 percent,
with 77 per cent of the voters approving Czech membership in the Union.
Earlier in April, the EU´s 626-member Parliament
overwhelmingly voted for a ratification of accession for the ten countries that
have been working to gain admission to the European Union.
The formal accession documents were signed in Athens on
April 16, 2003, signaling the coming of the fifth EU expansion since 1957. The ten new accessions will aggrandize the
European Union, creating the world’s largest market with 453 million people of
which 10.3 million will be Czech residents In order to support the economies of
its newest members, the EU will have to spend approximately 41 billion dollars
over the spread of three years. The
funding will go toward farming, the construction of roads, and other
areas.
The referendum on June 13 and 14, 2003, which came
approximately seven years following the Czech Republic’s submission of the
application for EU membership on January 23, 1996, is a milestone in the
history of the Czech Republic. The country is now slated to officially join the
EU in May 2004.
European Parliament approves
Enlargement of the EU
The European Parliament overwhelmingly
approved expansion of the European Union in April to accept all 10 candidate
states on which the vote was taken. The invitees, expected to complete the
accession process by mid-2004, are: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. "It is
the defining moment of a very long process," European Parliament President
Patrick Cox said before the vote. "We've all had the chance to weigh the
arguments, and now we are called upon, on the record, before our public, and I
think also before history, to take our stand on this issue." Separate
votes were taken on each new entrant. The Czech Republic received 489 ballots
in favor and 37 against. The parliaments of the current 15 EU members must
still endorse the expansion, and each of the 10 candidate countries is putting
the future membership to a referendum. Maltese, Slovenian, Hungarian and Slovak
voters have already backed accession. Citizens of Slovakia have voted in favor
of joining the European Union. Over 52 percent of eligible voters took part in
the plebiscite in May. Of those who took part in voting an overwhelming
majority, 92.46 percent voted in favour of joining the EU, with 6.2 voting
against. After the results were announced, the head of Slovak parliament Pavol
Hrusovsky stated that the "future" of his country had "acquired
a new dimension". Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla was among those to
offer congratulations. Czechs, who voted their YES on June 13 and 14, 2003,
endorsed the Czech Republic´s entry with 77 per cent of the votes backing the
entry to the EU.
Message by the Ambassador
The
outcome of the democratization of Iraq will influence the future for all of us.
The changes now occurring on the territory of what was once the cradle of
civilization are correctly perceived as a test for all of mankind, formed in
the beginning of the 21st century. The first weeks after Saddam
Hussajn’s fall have only confirmed the obvious: the Iraqi journey to democracy
will be difficult and the final result of this process can hardly be
predictable. International efforts to restore the basic administrative
functions that enable Iraqi society to cope with the hardships of transition
have had only a limited effect, leaving many potentially explosive issues out
of control. There are a number of players emerging on the scene – Kurdish
resistance fighters, tribal chiefs and local leaders, politicians from exile,
wealthy Baghdad businessmen, Shia clerics – but the rules of the game are still
unclear. The formation of a transitional government suffers from a lack of
transparency. Instead of building confidence between the parties, it is
actually creating a general mistrust. Those who have been skeptical of the
feasibility of bringing ”western” democracy to the Middle East find their
arguments strengthened by the current state of matters and thus, feel justified
in reiterating their Cassandra-like prophecies.
The Czech Republic – like other
countries of Central Europe – has actively supported the military actions of
the US-led coalition and is now considering what would be her best contribution
in the postwar period — from peacekeeping and institution building to active
participation within Iraq’s economic reconstruction. Special attention,
however, should be paid to the argument that post-communist countries play a
special role in this arena due to their own successful encounters with
democratic transitions.
What exactly is that experience? What
qualifies us to serve as a kind of model to be studied and eventually used by
the Iraqis? One general observation should be made when we look back into our
past. Democratization is by its very nature a new beginning and an open-ended
process. No outside recipes are found easily applicable and safely functioning.
The only method that really works during the period of transition is that of
”trial-and-error.” This method is based on a kind of postmodern philosophical
creed: minimize your constructivist expectations and maximize your efficiency;
do not speculate, instead use your experience and transform it into action.
What must be nurtured above all is the capacity to have productive,
purpose-driven communication; to lead dialogue; to make decisions; and to build
confidence among all of the players. The greatest challenge is to preserve the
consensus as far as the common goal is concerned — allowing the forces of free
competition being released into the emerging open society to spontaneously
execute the main tasks of democratic transformation. The link between the
domestic, regional, and international aspects of transition is fundamental:
democratization is doomed to fail without the cooperation of an external world
that is ”safe for democracy.”
My suggestion is very simple: we
Central Europeans certainly do not have any miraculous formulas for democratic
transition, but we have gone through our own journeys from slavery to the free
world, we have our own transitional experiences, and our own stories. Do
relevant similarities exist between our own cases and that of Iraq? The answer
still remains to be seen. Let us organize a meeting at Radio Free Europe in
Prague, where broadcasts to Iraq have already been underway for six years and
whose outreach has grown tremendously since the Iraqi jamming installations
have finally been shut off. Let us bring a group of people who played an active
role in the transition from communism together with a group of Iraqis
interested in learning about this experience. Let us start a dialogue on
liberation and the possible roads to democracy across the boundaries of
cultures and religions. Let us begin this exercise in the ”heart of Europe,”
with the intent to move to Baghdad. Let us test our transitional experience
against the current Iraqi reality. What can create an enabling environment for
a successful democratization in Iraq? What else is needed in addition to the
security provided by the coalition forces and the economic assistance that has
been organized by governments and their international organizations? Could that
missing ingredient be the ethos and experience of the dissidents and human
rights activists whose spirit triggered the liberation of Central Europe in
1989?
With all of the current focus on the
democratization of Iraq, we should not forget about the other parts of the
world. Indeed, the list of dictators is
still too long. In my view, there is one case that deserves special attention —
the case of Cuba. During the heart of the Iraqi crisis, Fidel Castro decided to
crash the Cuban dissident movement. In a series of bogus trials, more than
seventy people were sentenced to long terms in prison. Meanwhile, three
unsuccessful boat hijackers were sentenced to death and executed. These brutal
acts have raised an unprecedented wave of solidarity throughout the entire
world towards Cuban freedom fighters. Shouldn’t the same ethos that is so
desperately needed in Iraq also determine the attitude of all genuine democrats
toward Cuba? When this spirit prevails, in the outside world as well as on that
secluded island where the aging ”commandante” has maintained his power through
harassment and persecutions, the last totalitarian system in the Western
Hemisphere will quickly fall and the people of Cuba will be free.
New Defense Attaché Arrives in
Washington
In
March 2003, Brigadier General Jan Petras, MD assumed his post of the Defense, Military and Air Attaché of
the Czech Republic in the USA. He replaced Major General Rostislav Kotil, who
has served at this post since 1999.
Brigadier
General Jan Petras graduated from the Military Medical Research and
Postgraduate Institute of J. E. Purkyne in Hradec Kralove in 1976.
During
th eperiod between 1994-1999 he was on several study trips in USA in the field
of orthopedic traumatology. In 1998-1999 he served as a Chief Senior officer –
Deputy Chief of the Building-up and Control Division of the Military medical
Department of the Czech Ministry of Defense.
In
October 1999 he started to attend an expert course in Texas – Advance Officer
Course – Medical Service at American Medical Department Center & School and
graduated in 2000. He is an expert in the NBC Defence. After September 11, he
has been participating in the chemical and biological defence of the Czech
armed forces. He has been an advisor of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of
Interior in that matter.
During
his surgical career he published more than twenty works and lectured in the Czech
Republic and abroad, mostly in the field of traumatology.
In
May 2000, Jan Petras was appointed as the Surgeon General of the Czech Army.
He
was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on May 8, 2000.
Jan
Petras is married; he and his wife Lenka have two children, Martin (1991) and
Krystof (1997). He is interested in military history, historical literature,
plays basketball and golf.
Philadelphia Welcomes Czech Senators
Philadelphia, the ”City of Brotherly Love”, rolled
out its red carpet on May 30th, 2003 for members of the Czech Senate
Committee which has jurisdiction over municipal development and environmental
matters. Ales Pospisil, Czech Consul General in New York, brought to
Philadelphia a group of five Senators.
The central point of the six-hour program,
organized by the Honorary Consulate General of the Czech Republic in
Philadelphia with the help of the Director of the Governor’s office in
Philadelphia, was a working luncheon with City officials of Philadelphia hosted
by the Philadelphia Visitors and Convention Bureau. Its President, Mr. Thomas
O. Muldoon served as the moderator. The City delegation was made up of almost
twenty key officials, which included the Managing Director, the Commissioners
of Police, Fire, Streets, Revenue, Parks, Health, Welfare and others made
presentation for the visitors.
The visitors viewed the Pennsylvania Historical
Marker to T.G.Masaryk, dedicated in July 2002, received a private tour of
Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell and paid a visit to Philadelphia’s City
Hall. The visit ended with a stop at Masaryk Place, dedicated in October 1998.
Masaryk Place leads into the Hotel Hyatt Park Bellevue where T.G. Masaryk and
the rest of the delegations of the Mid-European Union of Free Nations stayed
during their October 1918 deliberations, which lead to the ”Proclamation of
Common Aims”. The ”Proclamation” is housed at the Woodrow Wilson archives at
the Library of Congress. Copies can be also be seen at the Hon. Consulate
General of the Czech Republic-Philadelphia, as well as the Czech Embassy in
Washington.
Contributed by Peter Rafaeli
Czech
Senators visit Illinois
Illinois
State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka (fourth from left) welcomed a delegation of
the three Czech senators, Ms. Jitka Seitlova, Chair of the Commission of the
Senate for Czech Living Abroad, Mr. Jaroslav Kubera, Deputy Chair and Mr.
Jaroslav Sula, also Deputy Chair. The Senators appreciated the opportunity to
speak with the Treasurer about the structure and inner workings of our state
government. They in turn explained the work of their commission and raised
issues that might involve Czechs living in Illinois. The delegation was
particularly interested in talking with the highest elected state official who
is a woman of Czech heritage and could enlighten them on the issues faced by
Czech/US citizens living abroad. The senators used this visit to formally
present Topinka with gifts from the Czech. Republic. Finally, they personally
extended an invitation to Topinka to attend an International Conference in
Prague to be held in October 2003 to recognize accomplished Czech women those
of Czech descent throughout the world. Pictured from left to right : George T.
Drost, Honorary Consulate of the Czech. Republic, Ivan Dubovicky, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Michal Valenta, Standing Senate Commission on Compatriots
Living Abroad, Judy Baar Topinka, Jitka Seitlova, Standing Senate Commission on
Compatriots Living Abroad, Jaroslav Kubera, Senator and Jaroslav Sula, Senator
Contributed by Carolyn Barry Frost
Czechs
invited to participate in Iraq Peacekeeping
May 2 - The CR has been invited to send
peacekeepers to Iraq under British command. The Czech contingent could comprise
military police, weapons-detection specialists, or special forces. British
Defense Secretary said during a visit to the Czech capital that his country
would welcome Czech participation. Defense Minister Tvrdik said the deployment
of additional forces would require the withdrawal from Kuwait of a Czech
anti-nuclear, -biological, and -chemical unit serving under Operation Enduring
Freedom. A Czech military field hospital is also serving in Iraq.
Defense
Minister visits Czech medical team in Basra
Czech Defense Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik visited the
city of Basra at the beginning of May. Work is underway on the setting up of a
Czech field hospital. The team of Czech doctors and nurses are already working
in makeshift conditions, providing medical care to several hundred patients a
day. The minister said he was shocked by the plight of the locals and proud of
the work of the Czech field hospital team. "They are professionals of
which the Czech Republic can be truly proud" the minister concluded.
Greek
Premier discusses EU Future with Czech Counterpart
May 12 - Visiting Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis
wrapped up his 10-country tour of EU candidate states in Prague on May 10 with
a discussion on accelerating EU expansion and possible organizational changes
with Czech Premier Spidla. Spidla told Simitis, whose country holds the
rotating EU Presidency, that Prague favors a continuation of the current EU
procedures, under which each member has a representative in the European
Commission. He said the Czech Republic also wants to see a continuation of the
rotating EU Presidency, rather than the election of an EU president for a
longer term.
Czech
President discusses EU future with Italian Politicians
May 12 - President Vaclav Klaus discussed the
future of European integration, EU reforms, and European-U.S. relations with
Italian Deputy Premier Gianfranco Fini and Italian Foreign Minister Franco
Frattini at Prague Castle. The
presidential office said afterward that both sides were "pleased to
note that their opinions on the future of European integration are highly
similar" and that they both favor an EU "in which member states
retain their own identity." They also discussed Iraq's reconstruction and
trans-Atlantic cooperation.
FM
Svoboda wants Czechs to participate in Iraq Stabilization Process
May 13 - Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda said that
the Czech Republic must assume a role in the stabilization of postwar Iraq.
Svoboda was speaking at a joint press conference with the Czech coordinator for
the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance (ORHA) for Postwar
Iraq, Janina Hrebickova. Hrebickova said the Czech Republic could send
specialists to participate in projects such as the reconstruction of oil
refineries or irrigation. Czech advisers could also work in Iraqi ministries
and other state offices once new Iraqi authority is in place.
Czech
military hospital opens in Iraq
The Czech 7th military field hospital has
officially opened its doors to patients in Basra on May 18. Until then, a
provisional site was used to tend to some 50 patients a day. Around 280 Czech
personnel are stationed at the military hospital, including a haematologist, a
paediatrician, and a dentist. Doctors have also received training on local
customs and the religion of Islam.
NATO
proposes CR form multi-national battalion
May 19 - The United States and NATO turned to the
Czech Republic with a proposal to form the first multi-national battalion for
defence against weapons of mass destruction, part of the NATO rapid reaction
force, Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik told reporters in Brussels.
Tvrdik said that the Czech Republic has the
corresponding abilities, and therefore it will be interested in accepting this
challenge. If the Czech Republic were to become the chief expert on defence
from weapons of mass destruction in NATO, then it could also aspire to the same
position in the EU.
President
Klaus accepts Defence Minister Tvrdik's resignation
June 3 - President Vaclav Klaus accepted the
resignation of Defence Minister Jaroslav Tvrdik. At their meeting at Prague
Castle, the future of the Czech Army was discussed. Tvrdik resigned from his
post because he disagreed with the planned cuts in the Defence Ministry's
budget. He said that the implementation of the armed forces reform which he had
prepared was impossible under such conditions. Klaus thanked Tvrdik for his
performance as Defense Minister.
Kostelka
to be new Defence Minister
June 4 - Premier Vladimir Spidla proposed to
President Vaclav Klaus that first deputy defence minister Miroslav Kostelka
should replace the outgoing Jaroslav Tvrdik (CSSD) as Defence Minister. Spidla
said that Tvrdik's recommendation played a role in his decision making, but the
greatest argument for Kostelka was the respect he enjoys at the Defence
Ministry and the fact that he can immediately continue with reforming the Czech
military. "That is an extremely important matter," Spidla said,
adding that some very important decisions ranging from weapons systems to
garrisons will have to be made in a short period of time.
Introducing
the Czech Government:
Bohuslav Sobotka, a lawyer by profession and a promoter of
employee pension funds.
Bohuslav Sobotka became a member of the Chamber of Deputies in June
of 1996. He defended his parliamentary mandate in the 1998 early elections and
again in last year's June elections. Mr. Sobotka proposed several bills
necessary for the development of the capital market and played an active role
in the social questions and housing policy.
Minister Sobotka worked in the Czech Parliament as a member of the
mandate and immunity committee (1996-1998) and the budget committee
(1996-2002). In addition, he was also a member of the election commissions. Mr. Sobotka was born on October 23,
1971 in Vyskov, south Moravia. He graduated from the Masaryk University Law
faculty in Brno.
Czech
Academy of Sciences awards Professor Winters with Honorary Medal
The President of the Academy of Sciences of the
Czech Republic, Dr. Helena Illnerova, has recently wrote a letter to Professor
Stanley B. Winters of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, informing him
that he was awarded the F. Palacky Honorary Medal for Merit in the Social
Sciences. By awarding the Medal for Merit, “the Academy Council gives its
highest recognition” to the achievemnets
of Professor Winters, acknowledged worldwide. The Medal is also a token of
appreciation for Prof. Winters´ long-time cooperation with Czech
scientists.
Economic
Digest
Industry
: Czech industrial output rose
by 7 percent year on year in March. In the first quarter of this year,
industrial output rose by 6.3 percent.
May 6 The strong value of the Czech crown vs. the US
dollar means that gasoline, computers, vacation and other items priced in
dollars should get cheaper for Czechs. Economists say that the dollar could
keep falling. The crown (CZK) closed at CZK 27.9 per dollar on May 6.
May 12 A sociological study by Charles University
predicts that the CR will become a Central European economic tiger by 2015.
After EU accession, the CR will concentrate on supporting business and
information technology, reducing public sector deficits, and adopting the euro.
May 14 The European Commission found in an ongoing survey
that the purchasing power in the CR is higher than in any of 10 candidate
countries. Prices in the CR, Estonia and Hungary are at 46% of the EU´s level.
May 21 Prague City Hall considers applying for hosting the
summer Olympics in either 2016 or 2020. Studies show that dozens of new sport
facilities would have to be built. Road and subway infrastructure would also
need to be upgraded. The necessary work could cost CZK 100bn.
May 28 Prazdroj said the board of SAB Miller has approved
the construction beginning this year of a new brewery at a cost of hundreds of
millions of crowns. It should double the capacity for the production of famous
Pilsner Urquell. SAB Miller said the Pilsner Urquell is its biggest asset. It
said that Plzensky Prazdroj brewery is the founder of brewing as we know it
today. SAB Miller wants to make Pilsner its flagship brand and to turn the
Pilsen Urquell into one of the world´s top five brands.
What’s
new in the Czech Economy :
The Finance Ministery announced on May 21 that it
plans to increase tax revenue by almost 30 billion crowns next year as a result
of planned changes in tax laws.
Public
Procurement
The cabinet addressed a new draft
public-procurement law yesterday from the housing ministry that is meant to
make the tender process more transparent and bring it into line with EU
legislation. Parliament has already tried six times to eliminate the existing
law‘s pitfalls. The new draft would require the issuer of a competitive bid to
establish the criteria in advance and to say what weight will be given to each.
It would also increase the powers of the antitrust office to oversee tenders.
The measure calls for continuing to give preference to Czech companies until
the end of 2005.
Czech producer prices drop
Czech producer prices dropped by 0.8 percent in
April after a growth in March. The April decrease is the biggest monthly drop
in Czech producer prices in more than two years. In year-on-year terms,
producer prices fell 0.7 percent. The Czech Statistics Office said much of the
decline was due to a drop in crude oil refinery prices after the end of Iraq
war. Analysts believe the trend will be reversed later in the year and producer
prices will start growing.
Czech
Expertise in Iraq and the Middle East
Czech
companies have an extensive expertise in many large infrastructure projects in
Iraq completed in the period 1960 - 1990. The most projects by Czech engineers
were performed in the Iraqi oil industry including oil refining (Daura,
Salahuddin I & II refineries).
About
60% of Iraqi oil refineries were designed by Czech engineering companies and
equipped by Czech industrial manufacturers. In addition to oil production and
refineries Czech firms completed numerous projects in water systems (water
treatment plants, irrigation systems) and industrial facilities such as
brickfield plants, tractor assembly, industrial plants.
Czech
companies are a logical source of knowledge including drawings and engineering
parts for keeping up the Iraqi oil industry, for upgrading the Iraqi
infrastructure and for modernizing the Iraqi industrial base. The Czech
engineering and manufacturing of industrial equipment is backed by industrial
tradition, technical skills of the workforce and the latest technology. In
combination with the expertise from the past, the Czech companies are an ideal
choice for strategic alliances and industrial partnerships in the
reconstruction process in Iraq.
Among
the many firms special attention should be given to the Prague based
engineering companies Strojexport and Technoexport. Both have headed Czech
consortia consisting of Czech industrial and engineering companies in
significant projects in Iraq and other Middle East countries.
Sokolfest
in Valparaiso, July 2 - 6, 2003
The
Czech word ”Sokol” means Falcon in English.
The Falcon was adopted as the symbol of the American Sokol, an
organization that stresses the ideals of fitness, strength, freedom, heroism
and high goals.
American
Sokol is a family-oriented organization that focuses on fitness for all age
groups, starting with the kindergarten level of three-years-old and ascending.
The main activities of the organization center around gymnastics. American
Sokol competes in unit, district, national and international meets, but its
main purpose is to develop a healthy and honorable individual.
”Our
first and overall task rests in the premise that before any other demands, we
must preserve our nation in the general vigor, that does not allow a nation to
die, in that steady and fresh strength, in that physical, spiritual and moral
health, that will not allow any decay to set in and with that no stagnation, that
worst, even criminal action perpetrated upon nations,” once said the founder of
the Sokol movement, Dr. Miroslav Tyrs.
The
American Sokol Organization was founded in St. Louis on February 14, 1865,
three years after its origin in Prague.
During the Nazi occupation and Communist rule in the former
Czechoslovakia , Sokol was banned because of its democratic ideals.
Today’s
national chapter of the organization is located in Chicago and consists of 550
members. However, other chapters have
sprung up around the country, specifically in the states of Illinois,
Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Texas,
Oklahoma, California, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Florida Washington, D.C.,
and Ohio.
Ohio’s
Sokol Greater Cleveland is one of the largest units within the national
American Sokol Organization. It is
located in the historic Bohemian National Hall that was built by Czech
immigrants at the turn of the century.
The
gymnastics training in Sokol Greater Cleveland includes warm-ups, marching, and
mass calisthenics among other activities.
The overall fitness program includes volleyball, weight room workouts,
rhythmic gymnastics and folk dancing.
In
addition to fitness, Sokol Greater Cleveland activities concentrate on culture and
education in order to complete the entire person. Senior activities, a youth
group, theatre, concert band and classes in the Czech language are also
offered.
To
find out more about up-coming Sokol events such as the July 2-6 ”Sokol USA
Sokolfest” in Valparaiso, Illinois, visit the Internet at
www.american-sokol.org
For
more information about Sokol Greater Cleveland, write to c/o Bohemian National
Hall, 4939 Broadway Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44127. For more information about the Sokol unit nearest you, write to
the American Sokol Organization, 6424 West Cermak Road, Berwyn, Illinois 6040
CS
Rockfest USA 2003
For
the fourth year in a row, Yorkville, Illinois, about 70 miles SW of Chicago,
will site the biggest Czech and Slovak music festival in Americas under the
already traditional name “CS Rockfest USA”. The show is scheduled for August
23-24, 2003. The event location, scenic and comfortable campground park – P.N.
A. Camp, 10701 River Road, Yorkville, IL 60450 – on about 200 acres of grassy
terrain will host not only the ”Woodstock” style music show but also a variety
of sports activities, including soccer, volleyball and swimming.
The
promoter, Los Angeles based CS Worldnet Corporation, invited the following
bands – Anna K, Chinaski, Ine kafe, Jana Kirschner, Kabat, Krystof, HC 3 and
home based Full of Silence. Jana Kirschner will also participate at the ”Under
the Picasso” program at the Daley Plaza.
In
addition to music, participants will have options to enter a Mini-Soccer
Tournament, beauty contest for this year’s Miss CS Rockfest USA, and a Saturday
Night After Hours Disco Party. Variety of traditional ethnic meals prepared by
local vendors and a limited assortment of wines will be available. The event
will also showcase Czech beer, offering main event sponsor Czechvar, BrouCzech
lager, King from Lobkowicz Brewery and Chicago’s favorite Rebel.
Tickets
are $ 80, if purchased by July 20th, $ 90 if purchased by August 20th, and $100
at the door. The price includes two days of entertainment, as well as parking
and camping fee; children under the age of 15 will be admitted for free.
Tickets are available online at www.csworldnet.com
CS Rockfest USA 2003 is a collaboration with the Prague Committee of
the Chicago Sister Cities International Program. Sponsors include Czechvar
Beer, Czech Airlines, Czech Center New York, CSA Fraternal Life Insurance,
Mattoni Water, US Money Express, and the steadily growing magazine Chicago Zurnal,
which serves exclusively to the Czech and Slovak communities, just to name a
few. From Europe we will see on site representatives of the Czech Radio and
Czech Television, co-operating again exclusively together in the USA. As it is
already traditional during the CSWorldnet events, a quality selection of
drawing prizes is sponsored by the Universal Studios. In addition renown bar
L&J Lounge will host the Autograph party. And finally, as from the very
beginning, this festival is being honored by endorsement of the Illinois
Treasurer, Hon. Judy Baar Topinka, who again accepted Honorary Chair position,
and held under the patronage of the Czech and Slovak Embassies in Washington
D.C..
The
CSWorldnet Corporation has offices in Los Angeles and Prague, Czech Republic,
and has served the Czech and Slovak communities in the U.S. since last decade.
In addition to promoting major ethnic cultural events, the organization serves
as the entertainment information source to its almost 10,000 members, as well
as provides Internet business consultations.
Sonja
Bullaty´s Kafka's Prague
The
exhibition of an as-yet-unpublished series of Bullaty color photographs at the Czech Center New York is a tribute to this
exceptional artist who spent more than 50 years in New York. The exhibition,
made possible by Angelo Lomeo, will be on view September 5, 2003.
Sonja
Bullaty, a photographer noted for her lyrical composition and
startling use of color and light, was born in
Prague into a Jewish banking
family. She received her first camera at the
age of 14, a consolation gift
from her father for having to abandon school and
normal teenage activities
as their world darkened with the approach of
war. At the age of 18, she was deported to Poland and spent the next four
years in various concentration camps including Auschwitz. Toward the end
of the war, she escaped a death march near Dresden by hiding with a girlfriend
in a haystack in a barn where the prisoners had been held for the night.
Bullaty returned to Prague after the war to find that none of her family had
survived. She followed her love of photography and soon became an
apprentice to the famous Czech master Josef Sudek, working in his studio filing
negatives and mixing chemicals while at the same time absorbing all she could learn
from the master of light and shadows. Their exceptional mentor/student
relationship is reflected in Bullaty's book on her teacher, entitled simply
"Sudek," which she published in the U.S. in 1978 and which until
today remains the best American publication on the photographer.
In
1947, Bullaty arrived in New York and soon met with photographer Angelo
Lomeo. They became a lifelong creative husband-and-wife team and made
together seven highly acclaimed books of travel and nature photographs
including Vermont in All Weather, Circle of
Seasons: Central Park Celebrated, Provence, and Tuscany. Their last book,
The World Trade Center Remembered, was published in 2001 by Abbeville
Press. Among the museums and galleries which have exhibited their work are
the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the International Center of Photography, the
George Eastman House in Rochester, and the Museum of Modern Art in Sao Paolo.
Sonja Bullaty's last project was a series of
photographs titled Kafka's
Prague in which she sought to capture the spirit of
the exceptional author in her native city. Bullaty died in New York in
2000, leaving her husband to create on his own.
Contributed by Irena Kovarova, Czech Center New
York
Czech/Slovak
Picnic, Fellowship and Music
An event sponsored by Czech and Slovak Heritage
Association, Delaware Valley Branch, at the Horsham VFW Post Picnic Grounds in
Horsham, PA
On Sunday, September 14, 2003 from 2 - 6
p.m.Admission is 10 dollars per person, 15 per couple and 20 per family.
For details, please call Carmen Mayer at 215-483
5032 or write to Peter Rafaeli, Honorary Consul General in Philadelphia to :
philadelphia@honorary.mzv.cz