Heartcore: Graphic Novelist Reflects on Art and Healing
September 30, 2025, 1:21 PM
On September 11, 2025, at 6 p.m., the Czech graphic novelist Štěpánka Jislová presented her award-winning autobiographical graphic novel Srdcovka (translated into English as Heartcore) at the Embassy of the Czech Republic. Moderated by Cara Gormally, the program offered an intimate look into Jislová’s creative process.
Lenticular Poetry Debuts in Washington
September 17, 2025, 1:27 PM
On the evening of September 5, 2025, the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center opened its doors to celebrate the vernissage of Lenticular Poetry, an exhibition bringing together the works of two Czech photographers—Jan Svoboda and Jaroslav Beneš —in their first major presentation in the United States. The evening began with speeches by American University Museum Director Jack Rasmussen, Deputy Chief of Mission Jan Havránek, curator Pavel Vančát, and photographer Jaroslav Beneš, who briefly introduced the exhibition and his collaboration with the late Svoboda.
Forward from the Ambassador
August 25, 2025, 9:32 AM
The Mutual Inspirations Festival is a celebration of culture, encompassing art, music, literature, photography and so much more. In its 16th year, the festival is going beyond the focus upon an individual personality each year to highlighting the regions of the Czech Republic. In 2025, we begin with the Pilsen (Plzeň) Region, a place which I am proud to call my home.
Since its rise on any map, Pilsen has been an important trading center between Prague and Bavaria and, to this day, it hosts a major university, significant manufacturing, top sports, impressive city architecture, and world-famous lager beer. It is also historically noteworthy in Czech-US relations as the region was liberated from Nazi occupation by the US Army led by General George Patton in WWII; this sacrifice for freedom being marked annually via the Pilsen Liberation Festival.
I welcome you to this year’s culturally and artistically rich program, which honors our transatlantic ties and a region worth visiting!
Miloslav Stašek
Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States of America
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