The Embassy of the Czech Republic invites you to the lecture Cuban Transformation–International Perspective with Martin Palouš, former Czech Ambassador to the US and the UN, on April 13, 2011, at 6:30 pm.       

Participants will also have the opportunity to view photographs from the book Cuba in Details by Michal Cihlár and Veronika Richterová. The book received the Best Photographic Publication Award in 2006.     

The event is part of the project Democracy and Human Rights: Lessons from the Past for the Current Czech Foreign Policy, organized by the Embassy of the Czech Republic from January through June 2011.

Location: 3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW, Washington, DC 20008  

R.S.V.P. to pavlina_ciorobea@mzv.cz or 202/274-9101 by April 11.

Martin Palouš served as the Czech Ambassador to the United Nations from 2006-2011. Prior to taking office at the UN, he presided as the Czech Ambassador to the United States from 2001-2005. He was also a founding member of the Civic Forum and one of the first signers of Charter 77.          

He joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an adviser to Minister Dienstbier and was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from October 1990 to October 1992. In October 1998, he became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. He has lectured extensively in the United States. Palouš has held a number of teaching positions at Charles University since 1990. He became a member of the Faculty of Social Sciences (Foreign Relations Division) in 1994, and served for some time as the Faculty's Vice-Dean. In 1993, he joined the Centre for Theoretical Studies (a research center run jointly by Charles University and the Czech Academy of Sciences, headed by Ivan M. Havel). Palouš is the author of numerous publications and translated the works of Hannah Arendt.

Palouš just finished completing his doctoral thesis in 2010 in international law at Masaryk University in Brno. He also holds a higher doctorate in political science/philosophy (2001), postgraduate degree in international and European law (2008), M.A. in philosophy and social sciences (1977), and doctorate of natural sciences degree in chemistry (RNDr., 1973).

Czech Republic and Human Rights 
Based on her own historic experience, the Czech Republic holds human rights and democracy very dear. Calling upon the international community to follow suit, the Czech Republic is a staunch advocate of respect for human rights and democracy in various places in the world where these are under threat. The numerous activities in this field, where the Czech Republic is involved, are portrayed in the Embassy´s project "Democracy and Human Rights: Lessons from the Past for the Current Czech Foreign Policy." The various events put together within this project include exhibitions, conferences, documentary and feature film screenings, and lectures focusing namely on the country's totalitarian past, its current human-rights-promotion priorities and, topically, on the rights of women and children.

Photography Exhibition: Cuba in Details (Cuba v detailech)The exhibition presents a selection of photographs from the book Cuba in Details by the renowned Czech artists: Michal Cihlá? and Veronika Richterová. The collection of 1088 photographs received the Best Photographic Publication Award in 2006.

In March 2005, Veronika Richterová and Michal Cihlá? traveled to Cuba, in order to see and photograph the decadent beauty of the island. They documented various architectonical banalities, faded slogans, old cars, and spectacularly non-touristic motifs. With the numerous collection of photographs, they created a book composed of carefully selected and organized images, which offers an authentic and complex view of Cuba.

Michal Cihlár, born in 1960 in Prague, is a graduate of the Academy of Decorative and Applied Arts (Department of Book Art and Type Design) in Prague. At present, he works in the following art areas: graphic and graphic design, photography, stamp art, sculpture, original book art, stage design, and wallpaper art.

Veronika Richterová, born in Prague in 1964, studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design (Prague), and École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs in Paris. Since 1990, she has been a freelance artist. Her work since 2004 has focused primarily on PET ART, photography, and art books.

http://www.veronikarichterova.com/cs/realizace/6-cuba-v-detailech/
http://www.gallery.cz/gallery/cz/michal-cihlar.html
http://www.veronikarichterova.com/