Foreword by Dagmar Havlová
I am very pleased to present to you the thirteenth Annual Report of the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97. You will find in it information about the Foundation’s activities, about gifts received and grants made, and information about the management of the foundation as a whole, which was once more subject to an intensive audit by KPMG Česká republika a.s. company. In addition to that information you will also find many photographs, and items of interest about individual projects and visions for 2011.
For myself and my husband, last year was a very important one and also very strenuous, partly because of the making of the film “Leaving”, which involved a lot of duties, meetings, rehearsals and travel. However, my husband fulfilled his childhood dream and in my opinion the film has been a great success and is definitely worth seeing.
The preparations for shooting and the shooting itself partly affected the Foundation’s operation, of course, but in no way did they halt or significantly limit the work on the other usual programmes. Once more many successful events were held at the Prague Crossroads, both commercial and charitable. The commercial events provide much needed funds which will allow us to continue with the reconstruction of St Anne’s Church (where the Prague Crossroads is now based), as we are still endeavouring to obtain sufficient funds to reconstruct the roofs and facades of the church and complete the restoration work. The charitable events, for their part, fulfil the mission both of the Foundation and the Prague Crossroads and help publicise the uniqueness of this space. In collaboration with our already traditional partners, such as Czech Radio’s “Firefly” endowment fund, Forum 2000, Gypsy Spirit, Strings of Autumn, and others, we organised a wide variety of interesting cultural events. I cannot fail to mention, of course, the sixth annual St Nicholas Charity Bazaar held each year on 5th December, which the Foundation invites likeminded not-for-profit organisations to take part in. And this is also by way of a cordial invitation to yourselves – come and take look in and support a good cause!
During 2010 we were working hard on the Prague Crossroads own website. With the help of our graphic artists we managed to create a very impressive presentation, which you can already peruse on www.praguecrossroads.com. The site includes lots of useful information, not only about the history of St Anne’s Church but also about possibilities of using the space, a tariff of hire charges and a series of photographs of the reconstruction in progress and of events that have taken place there.
As every year we awarded the VIZE 97 Foundation’s Prize on my husband’s birthday – 5th October. Last year’s prize-winner, the 12th laureate already, was Konrad Paul Liessmann, professor at the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Vienna, who is also an essayist, political commentator, literary critic and cultural journalist. The official presentation once more took place at the Prague Crossroads. It was a great honour for me to make the acquaintance of Professor Liessman and hear his views, and I can warmly recommend to you his collection of lectures, which we have published in Czech translation.
The VIZE 97 Foundation’s Prize was not the only award we presented last year. For the sixth time, as part of the Education Support Programme, we presented the award “In Recognition of Contributions to the Philosophy of Education and the Renewal of the University Idea”. The recipient this year was Professor Jan Sokol, Ph.D., CSc., an outstanding Czech philosopher, translator of philosophical texts, university teacher and publicist. Along with the award goes a sum of 97 000 Kč, symbolically recalling the year 1997 when the Foundation was established.
As part of the Education Support Programme we also provided funding to nine promising Czech students to help defray the cost of their studies at foreign universities. It was a tough decision for the Programme’s board to make, believe me, as the number of applications once more far exceeded our financial means. Nevertheless we strove to assist as many applicants as we could, and thus support the development of outstanding Czech talent and Czech education in general.
I am delighted that we were once more successful with our application to broadcast our health commercial about the Early Diagnosis and Prevention of Colon and Rectal Cancer project. It was regularly screened throughout 2010 during programmes on Czech Television. This is an enormous success and I would like to warmly thank Czech Television which has been assisting us for several years already with publicising our health programme. Thanks to this project and our cooperation with Czech Television we directly helping to save many human lives, and that is a absolutely unique feeling, as I’m sure you’ll agree.
And of course our social programme The Fund of Understanding was in operation last year, distributing funds and non-financial support to those who most need it, i.e. the elderly, people in difficult life situations, the handicapped, etc. Once more we supported the St Charles Borromeo Home at Řepy and the Home of the Holy Family at Liboc, both in Prague, as well as many community groups, hospices, homes for the elderly, and individuals. An emergency award of 10,000 crowns was made under the programme to assist victims of the disastrous Haiti earthquake as part of the public appeal launched by the People in Need association.
I’d also like to mention another matter, namely, the DVD with a recording of the concert: “It’s Here at Last” that we held at the Prague Crossroads on 14th November 2009 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution and relayed live by Czech TV and Czech Radio. In view of the enormous public interest – the broadcast was watched by over 1,800,000 viewers, which greatly gratified us, of course, we decided to issue the recording of the concert on DVD. So throughout 2010 tough and intensive negotiations took place with the representatives of Czech TV and the individual performers with a view to the DVD’s publication in 2011. I’m delighted that the negotiations were successful and you will shortly be able to share this unique experience of performances by Lou Reed, Suzanne Vega, the singer Joan Baez, the operatic soprano Renée Fleming and other celebrities.
Finally allow me to thank all donors, large and small, without whom the Foundation couldn’t exist. We appreciate every financial and other gift because it helps fulfil the mission and objectives of our Foundation. I would also like to thank the members of all our various boards, who voluntarily assist and support us without any remuneration. I thank my husband for his moral support and for donating to the VIZE 97 Foundation every fee he receives in connection with his attendance at international conferences as well as all monetary prizes. My thanks go also to all my colleagues, volunteers and all the good and self-sacrificing people who never cease to reassure us that our endeavours are of profound significance. I thank you and look forward to you next year once again.
Yours,
Dagmar Havlová
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