Havel Channel: From the Václav Havel Library to the World

On Wednesday, September 9, 2020, the Václav Havel Library launched a new audiovisual project, Havel Channel, during a gala evening on the Lucerna Palace’s rooftop in Prague. The project’s objective is to fulfill and spread the legacy of the first post-revolutionary president through modern technology. The Havel Channel makes Václav Havel's intellectual, literary and political legacy accessible to all, regardless of distance, geographical and linguistic boundaries, veils, quarantines, or emergencies. Debates, educational projects, and interviews form the backbone of the program. Considerable attention is also devoted to conferences, author readings, recordings of theater productions, and concerts.

At present, the Havel Channel offers its followers the opportunity to watch almost 1,500 videos from the Václav Havel Library of events between 2011 and 2020, educational miniseries, reports, and the Library‘s current program. Many debate evenings and discussions are broadcasted live on the Havel Channel; over time, a diverse range of podcasts will enrich the Channel‘s offerings. Many have supported the launch of the internet project, including former United States Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. “It is important for the Czech Republic and the whole world. And it's a great dissemination of Václav Havel's legacy," she said in her short online message to the project‘s creators. The Václav Havel Library has been caring for the legacy of the first Czechoslovak post-revolutionary president, writer, playwright, prominent thinker, and human rights defender for 16 years. Zdeněk and Michaela Bakala have been key supporters since it’s inception.