The Mutual Inspirations Festival (MIF) is an annual initiative spearheaded by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington D.C., USA, focusing on the mutual inspirations between Czech and American cultures and featuring each year an extraordinary Czech personality who has greatly influenced and inspired others through his or her work.
The Mutual Inspirations Festival (MIF) is an annual initiative spearheaded by the Embassy of the Czech Republic, focusing on the mutual inspirations between Czech and American cultures and featuring each year an extraordinary Czech personality who has greatly influenced and inspired others through his or her work.
http://www.mutualinspirations.org/
“There was no writer like him (Karel Čapek)…prophetic assurance mixed with surrealistic humor and hard-edged social satire: a unique combination.” – American playwright Arthur Miller
“Nothing is stranger to man than his own image.” – Karel Čapek, R.U.R.
This year marks the 125th anniversary of the birth of Czech writer Karel Čapek (January 9, 1890 – December 25, 1938).
Known as a playwright, novelist, short story writer, journalist, children’s author, biographer, and essayist, he wrote on such topics as nationalism, totalitarianism, and consumerism. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature and called a forerunner to such renowned science fiction writers as George Orwell and Aldous Huxley. His plays appeared on Broadway soon after debuting in Prague, and his books have been translated into many languages.
He wrote his most renowned play R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), which made famous the word “robot” and centers on machines dominating the human race with the threat of extinction. Many of his works debate ethical aspects of industrial inventions including mass production, nuclear weapons, and artificial intelligence.
Čapek is noted for his influence on modern Czech literature as well as the development of Czech as a written language. Through his unforgettable works, he expressed his concern for violence in the world, absolute power, and greed, trying to find hope through humor and warning his countrymen of a looming darkness that culminated in WWII.
The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Washington D.C., USA, announces the Mutual Inspirations Festival 2015 – Karel Čapek, celebrating the legacy of the world-renowned author through events in the nation’s capital from September 3–November 21, 2015.
Enjoy theatrical performances, lectures, a special concert, and more!
