Prague hosts two cultural events aimed at helping people from Caucasus(Prague Watchdog) – Early this week two cultural events took place in Prague dedicated to Caucasians who either still live in their homeland under disturbing conditions, or left to seek shelter in the Czech Republic.
On Monday "An Evening of Caucasian Culture" was held at the Rock Café Club. The event was sponsored by the Czech parliament member Svatopluk Karasek, and organized by the civic associations Souziti 21 (Coexistence 21) and Caritas Czech Republic in cooperation with the Ministries of Culture and Interior, and several Czech-based NGOS.
The evening began with documentary films about Armenia and Chechnya, followed by a discussion about these regions.
Then Ujezd, a group of musicians composed of asylum seekers living in the Cerveny Ujezd housing complex, appeared in concert and began by publicly introducing their first CD that had just been released that day.
The highlight of the evening though was the eagerly awaited debut of the Chechen children’s dance ensemble, Nokhcho. They began by reciting verses in Russian, Chechen, and Czech that expressed feelings about their homeland, freedom and desire to live in peace, which were wildly applauded by the audience; and they ended by performing a final number in which individual Chechens in the audience also showed off their dancing prowess.
On Wednesday, International Human Rights Day, the Roxy Club held "An Evening with Berkat", organized by the Berkat civic association. The event was principally a sale exhibit of paintings by Czech artists as well as Chechen artist Abu Pashayev. All proceeds from the sales went toward supporting Berkat's humanitarian projects and Czech scholarships for the children of Marsho, a Chechen dance group that toured in the Czech Republic early this year. (See http://www.watchdog.cz/marsho)
Petra Prochazkova, a well-known Czech war correspondent, and her Hungarian colleague, Kristina Satori, also made an appearance to briefly describe what’s going on in Chechnya and Russia. However, it must be noted that because of the news reports they filed from Chechnya, both women have been barred from entering any part of the Russian Federation for five years.
A short explanation was then given by the staff of People in Need and Caritas Czech Republic, both of which provide humanitarian aid in Chechnya and Ingushetia. They explained, among other things, that the main issue in Chechnya today is not in becoming an independent republic, but only that the violence and assaults cease so they could live in peace.
“However, as long as Mr. Putin remains president of Russia, I think that these enduringly wretched conditions in Chechnya won’t be considerably changed,” added Prochazkova. (E/T) |
