OPEN to various genres.photo: Courtesy of BSQ
THE GROUP of neighbouring countries that comprise the Visegrad Four (V4: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) will come together to celebrate their entry to the European Union a few days after enlargement takes place.
Within the cultural event Quartet, held in Slovakia's capital between May 7 and 12, each state will deliver a concert, screen a movie, and organise an exhibition. Significant political analysts from each country will discuss the V4's role in the EU.
Slovak Culture Minister Rudolf Chmel will open the event at 14:00 on May 7, at the Primate's Palace, in the presence of guests from the V4 countries. The former Slovak ambassador to the US and a candidate in the recent presidential elections, Martin Bútora, will lead the subsequent discussion.
The festivities will then move outside to the square in front of the palace. After a few words at 19:00 from Slovakia's foreign affairs minister, Eduard Kukan, the chamber orchestra of Bratislava, Capella Istropolitana, will perform works by composers from the V4.
Three days later, on Monday, May 10, students of the V4's leading art schools will exhibit at various spaces in Bratislava. The Polish students will display their graphic works at the Hungarian Culture Institute at Palisády 54, with an opening at 16:00. The Polish Institute at SNP Square 27 will feature a selection of sculptures created by Slovak and Czech artists. The exhibition will open at 17:00, and an hour later, Galéria Medium at Hviezdoslavovo Square 18 will unveil a collection of sculptures from Hungarian students.
May 11 will belong to Czech and Slovak cinema and musicians. At 16:00 and 18:00, the Mladosť Cinema on Hviezdoslavovo Square will screen a movie from each country, and at 19:30 the square's summer house will fill with the tunes of the Bohemia Saxophone Quartet (BSQ) and two Slovak blues musicians, guitarist Pišta Lengyel and harmonica player Erich "Boboš" Procházka.
The next day will be dedicated to the remaining two countries - Poland and Hungary. The Mladosť Cinema will screen the selected movies by these two countries, and the evening will be enlivened by Polish jazz-klezmer trio Oles/Trzaska/Oles and Hungarian flautist Eszter Horgas and her band.
The admission to all the events is free. For more information contact the Czech Centre at Hviezdoslavovo Square 8. Tel: 02/5920-3312.
