MFDF Ji.hlava - Inspiration Forum

The ideal of freedom is something that unites us all. Most political parties promise to defend or to expand our freedoms. Often, however, this key concept is void of content, or is seen only in a very minimalist way -- as a freedom to think, to say or write anything, and possibly to cross the borders of our country. But what does it mean in terms of possibilities for self-fulfilment in today's world, equality opportunities, a life of dignity and a meaningful participation in society? Nothing much usually. We also associate freedom with the absence of a totalitarian regime, although some of us are still living under economic pressure, in a deteriorated environment, with a poor labour market status or not being able to afford housing. Three decades after the revolution, it is high time to redefine the concept of freedom.

MORE INFORMATION:

• Festival web
• Facebook page of the festival
• Facebook page of the Inspiration Forum

PROGRAM:

October 29

10:00–11:00 AM
Behind the bars of freedom
The inner world of Jan Drtina

In our society, a prison stay is seen as the most literal experience of losing one’s freedom. However, this is often the situation of those whose freedom is in some sense restricted also outside the walls of the prison cell: for example by drug addiction, poverty, trauma or limited social opportunities. We will be talking to former prisoner Jan Drtina about life deprived of personal freedom and what it is like to walk free again.

Guest: Jan Drtina

12:00–1:30 PM
Real freedom has not yet been achieved
Panel discussion about insufficient forms of freedom

We are in many ways more free in today’s world than the past generations, and yet many of us are still deprived of their freedoms. Numerous groups of people face discrimination, and economic oppression. In addition, we are facing major challenges whose solutions will inevitably have an impact on our freedoms – global inequalities, wars, the climate crisis, unpredictable technological developments. How can we rethink freedom so that we can effectively face these challenges while building a freer future for all? How can we put these challenges in a European context? And how are these issues currently reflected in the agenda of the EU institutions?

Guests: Daniel Bunda, Eliška Koldová, Dominika Lasota, Matthias Oaks, Sara Polak

With the support of the European Commission Representation in the Czech Republic and the European Parliament.

2:30–4:00 PM
Fragile, handle with care!
Discussion about Hungary losing its freedoms

In this year’s parliamentary elections, Viktor Orbán has become the Prime Minister of Hungary for the fourth time in a row. The April elections thus confirmed the course the country has been following for the past few years, to the dismay of not only the liberal part of Hungarian society. Orbán's conservative government has been consistently restricting the rights of LGBT+ people and women, bending democratic principles and undermining the freedom of the media. We spoke to scholar Dorottya Rédai, whose field of interest – gender studies – has been banned from Hungarian universities since 2018, about how (un)free contemporary Hungary really is.

Guest: Dorottya Rédai
Moderator: Linda Bartošová

5:00–6:30 PM
Stripped down to the nerves
Keynote and conversation about how our brain knows right from wrong

Our ideas of freedom come from the same source – the human brain. In her work, Canadian neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland explores how our brains give rise to phenomena that we think of more as philosophical problems – morality, conscience, and our ideas of what is right in general. What does it mean to be free in light of the fact that our ideas are to some extent predetermined?

Guest: Patricia Churchland*
Moderator: Silvie Lauder

*Patricia Churchland will join live from Canada.

7:30–9:00 PM
Responding to despotism
Artist talk about art and protest

In 2016, the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, launched a “war on drugs” that triggered a wave of massive terror among the population. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, there were widespread and systematic extrajudicial killings, with estimates of up to 27,000 people killed. This summer, Duterte was replaced in the office by Bongbong Marcos, whose father established a cruel dictatorship in the country in the early 1970s. Artist and activist Kiri Dalena will speak about her activist work that deals with the current and past political depravities and violence in the Philippines.

Guest: Kiri Dalena

Programme block “NEW DEFINITIONS / Freedom is the real deal” is organized with the support of the Prague Office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.