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Truth and lies in the public sphere, personal responsibility, civic engagement, the abuse of language and the manipulation of information. In the summer semester of the previous academic year, students at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen (FDU UWB) explored these themes in relation to the present from the perspective of a generation that has grown up in a democratic society and knows the experience of a totalitarian regime only indirectly. Sutnarka will now present works from the Havel 26 project at several venues.

The students responded to Václav Havel’s legacy through painting, graphic art, illustration, photography and new media. “After growing increasingly frustrated with the political situation in the Czech Republic, I decided to show how I perceive the daily serving of politics to ordinary citizens. A jumble of relevant and irrelevant statements and information that people literally have to consume every day to keep up,” said Miroslava Benett, a student in the Painting Studio, describing her audiovisual installation Don’t Eat It.

“I don’t know the helplessness of life under the baton of totalitarian power, and I wish this good fortune would last for future generations as well. It is immensely important to remember both the ordinary and great heroic acts of courageous people who stood up to pressure. People who refused to live with their backs bent,” said Ondřej Pešta from the Animation Studio about his work, Last Night.

“Although most of Havel’s plays and essays were written decades ago under a very different political system, they have proved to have something to say to today’s youngest generation of artists as well. In today’s world, overwhelmed by information and disinformation, where fundamental values are becoming blurred and less clear, Havel’s reflections on the potential abuse of language and the importance of individual responsibility are once again highly relevant,” said project curator Daniela Kramerová of FDU UWB.

The first exhibition opened on 13 September at Radbuza riverfront in Pilsen and will run until 27 November. From 12 November to 9 December, another part of the project will be presented by the Ladislav Sutnar Gallery, followed by a selection of works at the Museum and Gallery of Northern Pilsen Region in Mariánská Týnice from 1 December to 29 January 2027. The project can thus be seen both in galleries and in public spaces.

The program will also include a special evening at the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art at UWB. On Wednesday, 25 November, from 6 p.m., it will feature, among other things, a staged performance of Havel’s texts in cooperation with the Josef Kajetán Tyl Theatre and a music program connected with Václav Havel and his cultural circle. The main media partner of the Havel 26 project is Czech Television. Radio Wave is a media partner.