Association for culture and dialogue K2001, a registered charity





Association K2001

The launching of the projects of K2001 and establishing the association as a registered charity arose through various reasons and aims such as starting dialogue where none currently existed, pointing out neglected cultural, historical and social topics and gathering representatives from various, often contradictory social movements for discussion. The activities of K2001 are presented through the media, exhibitions and conferences.

K2001, the Association for Culture and Dialogue, was established in 1997 in Brno. The main partner of the association is the City of Brno which has participated in organising all the projects K2001 has launched. An equally important motivation for K2001 activities is contributing to enlivening the culture in Brno and raising the cultural and social awareness of Brno's importance within the Czech Republic, as well as abroad. K2001 finds partners for particular projects among non-profit organisations, cultural associations and institutions and church orders, all this in close co-operation with Moravian towns and villages. K2001 activities are supported financially by various businesses, funds and the City of Brno.

Throughout the existence of K2001, the members of its Honorary Committee and long-term supporters were, and still are, writer and diplomat Pavel Tigrid and poet Zdeněk Rotrekl. This year, the Committee was joined by writer and diplomat Viktor Fischl (Avigdor Dagan), the Supreme Court judge and a political prisoner of the 1950's Antonín Procházka, writer Arnošt Lustig, Jiří Waldes and Petr Meissner.

At the start of the first larger project of K2001, Association for Culture and Dialogue, there was an intention to launch an exhibition presenting the decade of spiritual renewal and St. Adalbert's millennium. The exhibition was to present art and non-decorative items having been used in the liturgy since the Middle Ages. The project titled Hidden Treasures - Liturgical Year covered the tradition of European Christianity, together with the development of the art of painting in Brno, by means of an exhibition held from November 18th 1997 through to January 4th 1998. On presenting the liturgy of Christian churches in all its variations, successful co-operation and understanding among the representatives of Roman Catholic, Hussite, Protestant and Orthodox Churches and representatives of various church orders was established.

The experience gained from the successful realisation of the Liturgical Year project, together with the determination to continue in presenting culturally oriented activities, inspired its founders to prolong association's existence in March, 1998. The founders determined the task of launching cultural projects which will present to the public various influences of different cultures and religions on the development of spiritual values, as well as physical objects that had been shaped precisely by these values. These ideas were achieved through organising exhibitions, expositions, discussion programmes, specialised seminars and other activities oriented towards the public, as well as publishing extensive publications that accompanied particular events. The inseparable part of each project, considered as essential by the organisers, is promoting topic oriented programmes in the media and informing the public about the course particular project is taking regularly on internet and in the media.

The following extensive K2001 project, Rajhrad, was held in memory of the anniversary of 950 years' of the Benedictines' arrival to Moravia and 50 years since destructive Communism took power in Czechoslovakia. The exhibition and the premise of the Benedictine monastery itself proved vividly that the communist regime lacked any kind of respect towards cultural and historical heritage. Throughout this project, held from October 1st through to November 30th 1998, the representatives of a wide social spectrum met together: various church representatives, politicians, writers and artists, former political prisoners, presidents and chancellors of Czech universities.

Maintaining cultural heritage and historical testimony is also the basis of the third large, long-term project Jewish Moravia - Jewish Brno. Its goal is to reflect the fact that the art of culturally different minorities permanently enriches cultural and historical heritage of the Czech Republic. The project's goal is to present and commemorate the richness of Jewish culture which contributed to the cultural development of not only Brno, but Moravia as a whole. Both the exhibition itself and additional events focus not only on works of art from distinguished Jewish intellectuals and artists, but also on the everyday lives of Jewish individuals who had lived in our country. The project's theme also attempts to capture the painful and hardly forgotten aspect of being a Jew - persecutions, hatred, prejudices and intolerance.

The intention of presenting the often neglected aspects of the Czech culture stands behind the future activities of K2001. The theme which nowadays challenges K2001 to organize the next project is the Czechoslovak exile since 1918 through to the present. This project's goal is to commemorate the heritage of significant celebrities of cultural and social life who were forced, directly or indirectly, to leave their home country and start a new life elsewhere. The project also wants to draw the public's attention to the richness and variety of creative activities of the people who, even after losing the security of their homes, were still able to perform.


K2001, association for culture and dialogue, a registered charity

Tel./fax: +42 0 5 41243106

E-mail: K2001@K2001.cz

WWW.K2001.cz