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Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association
BBLA Newsletter NOVEMBER 2017 | Issue No. 59

JosephBalaz_portrait 
Dear Friends of BBLA,
 
On September 25, together with the Permanent Mission and the Consulate General of the Czech Republic, we celebrated the 99th anniversary of Czechoslovakia, welcoming and entertaining a crowd of diplomats, compatriots and friends in the Grand Ballroom of the Bohemian National Hall. Unfortunately, I was traveling but I know that according to the Czech tradition, our guests feasted on ham, goulash and drank kegs of beer.

My most heartfelt congratulations go to Sokol New York: this organization just turned 150 years old! We all wish Sokol NY a strong following and many future celebrations. 
Furthermore, I would like to mention our Trustees, representing Sokol on the BBLA board: Norma B. Zabka, Irene Mergl and Ed Chlanda. We greatly admire your commitment to Sokol values and are grateful for your dedicated work.

In November, as it is becoming our tradition, we will host the spectacular American Art Fair (November 12-15) with numerous dealers and galleries from around the world. We will co-sponsor the screening of the documentary Our Vasek, The Power of the Powerless, a very fine insight into the Czechoslovak and Polish dissidents' friendship and occasional get-togethers. The popular 6-Minute Challenge organized by SVU will be back on November 29. Don't miss it!

With best wishes,
 
JosephBalaz
Joseph Balaz, President 
Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association  

OurEventsCHECK THIS OUT

A SOUND MIND IN A SOUND BODY    
 
 
  
Sokol New York celebrates 150 years! The first New York Sokol opened its doors in 1867, only five years after the Sokol youth and gymnastics organization was founded in Prague as an important element in the Czech National Revival nationalist movement. Czechoslovakian immigrants brought this movement with them to America and the organization continues to embrace the Sokol credo: A SOUND MIND IN A SOUND BODY.

"Sokol" is the Czech word for falcon. The falcon symbol was chosen for its power, endurance and keen perception. Nazdar, which you may hear at the end of a Sokol class, translates to mean "on to success."   
 
 
By Christopher Gray  
 
JAN KRIZEK'S PRINTS AS TWO-DIMENSIONAL SCULPTURES     
 
  
Congratulations to art historian Anna Pravdova whose article on Czechoslovak artist Jan Krizek has been published in the new issue of Celebrating Print, a magazine on Central and Eastern European art print. Anna, a 2015 Fulbright Research Scholar at the Art Institute of Chicago, participated in November 2015 in the popular presentation program 6-Minute Challenge organized by our Czechoslovak Society for Arts and Sciences.   
 
From the article:
"On a spiritual journey for a cogent portrayal of man, Jan Krizek steered towards printmaking as he adapted sculptural principles into a two-dimensional medium. His lithographs and linocuts demonstrate the drive of an artist once active in the era of Parisian art brut.
     Jan Krizek (1919-1985) was first and foremost a sculptor. However, various circumstances restricted his ability to work in his chosen medium. Because he only sculpted occasionally, Krizek left behind a rich body of work consisting of drawings, paintings and prints. In the wake of World War II, personal and political factors forced the Czechoslovak-native artist to settle in Paris. It was during the seventh year of his stay in France, as a thirty-five-year-old, that the artist unexpectedly encountered printmaking, a format he briefly embraced while exploring alternative forms of expression and implementing new methods into his drawings and sculptures. Krizek created a distinctive graphic oeuvre that conveys a continuous interest in depicting man, capturing his existence and mapping relations with his surroundings."
 
 

OurEventsHERE IS WHAT'S COMING IN NOVEMBER

Friday, November 3, 7:00 PM   
CZECH LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE - REFLECTIONS  
TALK
 
venue: BBLA at Bohemian National Hall  
>> Open to the public. Suggested donation: $5.  
 
An illustrated talk on the past and present of Czech landscape architecture, gardens, parks, public spaces and greenways by landscape architects Stephan Yarabek of Hudson & Pacific Designs in Saugerties, NY, and Zuzana Ambrozova, Ph.D., from Department of Landscape  Architecture at Mendel University Horticulture School in Brno, and a 2017 Fulbright Research Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley.
 
 
Thursday, November 16, 7:00 PM   
OUR VASEK. ON THE POWER OF THE POWERLESS     
FILM             
 
venue: Bohemian National Hall   
>> Tickets for $10 are available online at: nypff.com or for $12 at the door before screening.
 
This film, initiated by Polish filmmakers, introduces viewers to how Vaclav Havel was viewed "next door." In Poland, too, Havel was considered an important person and a symbol. The film sheds light on the little-known relationship between the Polish and Czech opposition and offers a unique testimony on the meetings and actions that helped to bring down the totalitarian regimes in Europe.
 
  >> Read more  
 
Wednesday, November 29, 7:00 PM   
6-MINUTE CHALLENGE 
PRESENTATIONS
 
venue: BBLA at Bohemian National Hall  
>> Open to the public. Suggested donation: $5.  
 
The seventh edition of the Czech and Slovak academic show & tell. Czech and Slovak artists, professionals, students and scholars at universities and institutions in the USA are challenged to present the subject of their project, their studies or research in a short presentation limited to six minutes. In English.
 
 

OurEventsBBLA RECOMMENDS

November 2-19    
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD 
>>  Thursday to Saturday at 7:30PM; Sunday at 3PM
>> $20 Adult Tickets; $15 Student/Seniors + $1 Facility Fee
 
A co-production of Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre
Conceived and written by Vit Horejs, co-directed by Horejs and Matt Cahoon 

The Life And Times Of Lee Harvey Oswald revisits three 1963 national traumas: the assassinations of President Kennedy, his brother, and Rev. Martin Luther King. Exploring the shrouded, dense cobwebs of multiple conspiracy theories that attempt to justify these senseless acts. The main protagonists inexorably approach the Grassy Knoll guided by fate as marionettes are powered by their strings.
 
Sunday, November 12, 3:00 PM     
AMERICAN NIGHTINGALE  
COMPETITION
 
venue: St. John Nepomucene (411 E. 66th Str., NY 10065) 
>>  Free 
 
A third edition of singing competition for children. For more information, please email: info@americkyslavik.com. 
 

 
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INTERESTING links
>> Radio Praha        
>> The Washington Post         
>> Cesky rozhlas         
>> vhlf.org          
>> The New York Times          
>> The New York Times

A true story of the great Slovak figure skater Ondrej Nepela. 
>> Amazon   

BBLA'S MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Association of Free Czechoslovak Sportsmen

Czech and Slovak Solidarity Council



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NEWSLETTERS

 

older newsletters    

 


CELEBRATING PRINT MAGAZINE/ ON CENTRAL EUROPEAN ART PRINT

 

 


Bohemian Benevolent & Literary Association | 321 East 73rd Street, 3rd floor | New York, NY 10021
(212) 988-1733 | www.bohemianbenevolent.org | info@bohemianbenevolent.org

BBLA is a not-for-profit organization established in 1891 in New York City as an umbrella organization for almost eighty Czech and Slovak immigrant organizations. The mission of BBLA is to preserve and support Czech and Slovak culture in New York City . BBLA ' s member organizations include American Fund for Czech and Slovak Leadership Studies, Association of Free Czechoslovak Sportsmen, Czech and Slovak Solidarity Council, Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America , Dvorak American Heritage Association and Sokol New York . BBLA is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.