The Czech Republic is a place where important European cultures meet and naturally this includes Jewish culture. Visitors to the country have the opportunity to learn about this fascinating culture at its many Jewish sites as well as at various festivals of Jewish culture.
In 2006, the 7th Nine Gates International Festival of Czech, German and Jewish Culture will be held. This year the main theme will be the fate of the German Jews after World War II. The festival will once again be divided into two halves – summer and autumn. The summer half will include music, theatre and exhibitions; the autumn half will focus on film and seminars and will include excursions to nine towns across the Czech Republic. The summer half of the festival will take place in Prague, June 13 – 19 in the Vald_tejn Garden and the Theatre in Dlouhá Street. A highlight of the fascinating programme will be exhibitions on German and Czech Jews after the Holocaust and Holocaust Denial as an expression of a particularly repulsive form of modern anti-Semitism. The autumnal half of the festival will begin in early September in Marienbad and continue with a film festival in Prague.
The Nine Gates Festival of Czech, German and Jewish Culture is a respected cultural event which acquaints Czech audiences with Jewish culture from the Czech lands as well as from America, Argentina, Israel, Russia, Poland, and above all, Germany. Every year at the film festival, the Crystal Menorah prize is awarded for drama and documentary films and their contribution to Jewish culture. Former winners include Roman Polanski for The Pianist and Matej Miná_ for Nicolas Winton, the Power of Humanity. The Nine Gates Festival is open to all sections of society and there is no admission fee to any of the events.
Trebíc a town forever linked with Jewish culture and proud of its UNESCO listed sites, invites visitors to the annual amajim Festival This is the 3rd time this festival of Jewish culture will be held in the town and will take place this year from July 31 until August 5. The festival will open with an exhibition of works by Lisa Forell and a concert by the group Klezmerim and the Yocheved Ensemble, who will perform Israeli and Jewish folk dances. The Tuesday will see a performance by a Trebíc Ensemble of the play Ampulka by Vojtch Rakous. This will be followed by a lecture and a concert given by Marie Kubátová, singing Hebrew, Yiddish and Russian songs. Wednesday in the Trebíc synagogue will belong to the cellists Ji_í Ho_ek and Dominika Ho_ková. Vladimír Merta and Jana Lewitová will be the star attractions on the Thursday. The music will continue on the Friday with performances by the Brno band HaChucpa, the Slovak group Pressburger klezmer band and the French band Glik. The festival ends on Saturday August 5 with a programme called Language of the Liturgy and the Music of the midrash with songs, music and discussions. Those who bring their own sleeping bags can also spend the night in the synagogue.
The Boskovice 2006 festival is aimed at saving and maintaining the Jewish quarter of this small town in South Moravia. The 14th festival in Boskovice will be held July 13 – 16, 2006. Over the four days visitors will have the chance to see many events which completely take over the Jewish quarter and other venues in Boskovicích (www.boskovice.cz). The Boskovice festival is unique in central Europe and always includes interesting music, theatre, films, exhibitions, readings and lots more. These events take place at venues across the town and this year there’s a lot to look forward to such as concerts in the amphitheatre, jazz in the chateau hot house, more music behind the museum, afternoon theatre performances at the castle, film screening at the Panorama cinema and the amphitheatre, exhibitions, readings, lectures, excursions and one or two surprises as well. Visitors should definitely not miss Boskovice’s tourist attractions.
The Jewish cemetery will be open to the public during the festival and the synagogue will host an exhibition on the unique, picturesque Jewish quarter in Boskovice. The Literary Tearooms and adjacent café named after one of Boskovice’s most famous sons, Heman Ungar, invite visitors for a bit of rest and relaxation, as does the equally inspiring Café Za zrcadlem.
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