Days of Prague Brochure

EVENT DETAILS
The aim of the Days of Prague was to present the Israeli audience the best of the Czech culture in
various levels of art. As it often happens to extraordinary places, many people could perceive Prague
only as a beautiful historical monument and a touristic site (over eighty thousand Israeli tourists come
every year for a long-stay visit to Prague) – we wanted to complement this perspective and show also
another face of Prague: a city of dynamic and turbulent cultural life and modern artistic approaches. Days
of Prague brought to Jerusalem a unique theatre performance by Forman Brothers Theater, a modern
dance company DOT 504, an extraordinary jazz formation of Israeli and Czech musicians lead by Jaroslav
Jakubovic, special multimedia Czech-American project Defiant Requiem – Terezin Remembered, several
exhibitions and much more. All together 135 Czech artists and performers participated and over 15.000
direct visitors attended the events of the Days of Prague.
LOGO
PARTNERS
The project Days of Prague was prepared by the Embassy of the Czech Republic together with the Prague
and Jerusalem Municipalities, Israel Festival and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic with the
support of the Czech Centres, Israeli-Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCCI), Staropramen,
Skoda (Champion Motors) and Czech Airlines, Prague ZOO, Gallery of Jaroslav Fragner, Military History
Institute Prague, Defiant Requiem Foundation and Little Prague. The overall budget of the Days of Prague
was 11.445.000, - CZK, out of which 34% were covered by the City of Prague, Czech Government and the
Parliament of the Czech Republic.
ADVERTISING, PROMOTION AND DISTRIBUTION
The event was effectively and widely advertised through different channels and PR and marketing tools.
Days of Prague were promoted in the major newspaper and cultural magazines. The information about
the event had been distributed through the social networks such as Facebook, Twitter as well as via
mailing lists and databases of the Embassy of the Czech Republic, Israeli Czech Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, Czech Center Tel Aviv etc. There was also a massive outdoor campaign in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem
and Haifa.
Posters and flyers with a very pleasing and smart design were distributed all over the cities of Tel Aviv and
Jerusalem. The design of the posters was made with the intention to address young and middle-aged
audience and to show Prague in the light people usually are not used to see the city.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
The promotion of the event was split between three PR agencies. The first one focused on the PR
in all important Israeli media, organized the press conference at the Czech Embassy in Tel Aviv and in
the Jerusalem Theater, and was present at all events communicated with journalists and assisted at
networking. The second agency addressed the large Israeli-Russian community through the Russian
media. The last one was in charge of promotion of the Defiant Requiem and the Exhibition Assassination
of Reinhard Heydrich. The overall aim was to cover the Days of Prague by all Israeli media, create a buzz
and make it visible.
MEDIA MONITORING
see attached Press kit
OVERVIEW
Printed media
HEBREW: Ha‘aretz, Yediot Achronot, Israel Today, Maariv, The Globes, Calalist, Time Out, Mouse in Town,
Pnayi Plus, Makor Rishon
ENGLISH: Ha‘aretz, JerusalemPost, Time Out
RUSSIAN: Tarbut ru, Vesty, Novosty Nedeli, Sputnik, Globus
Radio
HEBREW: Kol Israel, Reshet Bet, Radio Jerusalem, Galei Tsahal
RUSSIAN: Radio Rishon, Radio REKA
TV
HEBREW: CH1, CH2, CH7, CH10
RUSSIAN: CH9
Websites
HEBREW: YNET, Walla, Mouse Online, Ha‘aretz, J-post, Nrg, Nana, Mako, specific blogs and sites
RUSSIAN: Mignews, Cursorinfo, Sedmoi Kanal, Potrebitel
Social networks / Facebook
Facebook page Days of Prague was created and advertised with an ad on the Facebook network. It has
reached 1000 “likes” and thus a sizeable community of friends and subscribes has developed. Through the
facebook page events, photos and teasers were published. Facebook is very popular in Israel, therefore a
very good and cost effective tool for advertising and spreading information.
Other
Various groups and organization such as Omanoot – Israel Through Art, Tel Aviv International, Study in
Tel Aviv, Time Out Tel Aviv, EU in Israel, Israeli Tourist Association, Russian social networks, Aurismedia
production etc. shared the information about Days of Prague and help to promote it via their pages,
websites, newsletters etc.
FIGURES
EVENT
NUMBER OF
PERFORMANCES
DIRECT
ATTENDANCE
Forman Brothers Theater
9
1350
Jerusalem Theater Square
DOT 504 - Ma Hunt
2
500
Jerusalem Theater
Israel Arts and Science Academy
Jaroslav Jakubovic and friends
2
1000
Jerusalem Theater Jazz club
Ben Shetach Street, Jerusalem
Defiant Requiem
1
2800
Jerusalem Convention Center
Prague Panoramic
3 weeks
2500
Jerusalem Theater Lobby
Prague ZOO
3 months
2000
Biblical ZOO Jerusalem
Prague Functionalism
1 month
1000
Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv
1
450
Jerusalem Theater
Kuhn Choir
Exhibition Assassination of
Reinhard Heydrich
3 weeks
3 weeks
1 month
VENUE
Knesset - Jerusalem
Rafael Ltd. - North Israel
Dvora Fischer Galllery - Tel Aviv
Czech Culinary Days
3
300
Little Prague Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Ashdod
Reception
1
200
Jerusalem Theater Lobby
DAYS OF PRAGUE
15100
BUDGET
INSTITUTION
COSTS (CZK)
PERCENT
Israel Festival
4.000.000,-
35
Defiant Requiem Foundation
2.010.000,-
17,6
City of Prague
2.000.000,-
17,5
Israeli Government
1.000.000,-
8,7
Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic
700.000,-
6
Parliament of the Czech Republic
550.000,-
4,8
Staropramen and other business sponsors
410.000,-
3,6
Czech Center Tel Aviv
375.000,-
3,3
Military History Institute Prague
250.000,-
2,2
Israeli Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry
100.000,-
0,9
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tel Aviv
50.000,-
0,4
11.445.000,-
100
TOTAL BUDGET
PUBLIC / PRIVATE FINANCING
INSTITUTION
COSTS (CZK)
PERCENT
City of Prague
2.000.000,-
17,5
Czech Governement / Parliament of the Czech Republic
1.925.000,-
16,8
Israeli Government
1.000.000,-
8,7
Other donors and partners
6.520.000,-
57
11.445.000,-
100
TOTAL
EVALUATION
The project was well received by the Israeli media and had a very good response from the Israeli public.
As a result of the multifaceted structure of the project we managed to address a large scale of audience
and public. The most visible and attractive was The Forman Brothers´ Theatre not only for its nature but
also for the location in front of the Jerusalem Theatre. It was presented as a part of the Israel Festival in the
framework of the Days of Prague. The reception of “Obludarium“, sold out every night, was spectacular: an
excellent media coverage evaluated the performance as the performance of the season and prestigious
theatre critics awarded five stars out of five.
Defiant Requiem was an absolutely unique experience for the Israeli audience of 2800 people. An
extremely complex and highly demanding project brought together an Israeli Orchestra, Czech Choir and
an American conductor in order to commemorate the victims of Terezin. The project was mentioned in
many important media and attended by important representatives of Israeli public life. A special greeting
was sent by the Israeli prime minister.
Other events which formed the rest of the whole project were also well received and the overall response
from the Israeli public was extremely positive. Based on the reactions (newspaper, Facebook, word of
mouth) the awareness of the Czech culture and its diversity grew substantially.
What was most important in planning and implementing the project was the cooperation with the local
cultural operators and administration and a positive ongoing communication with the media.
Defiant Requiem - Terezin Remembered
Date: 31. 5. 2012 at 20:00
Venue: International Convention Center, Jerusalem
Attendance: 2800 (sold out)
Sponsors and partners: Speaker of Czech Parliament, Defiant Requiem Foundation, Israel Festival
Conductor: Murry Sidlin
Orchestra: The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, IBA
Choir: Kuhn Choir, Prague
Soloists: Ira Bertman, Bracha Kol, Willa B. Perlmutter, Yotam Cohen, Assaf Levitin
Actors: Yona Elian, Sasson Gabai
A dramatic concert conducted by Murry Sidlin, who also wrote the accompanying texts. This requiem
tells the story of the courageous Jewish prisoners at the Terezin concentration camp during the Second
World War, who performed Verdi‘s famous requiem while struggling to survive the terrible suffering
and humiliation of the war. This unique event combines Giuseppe Verdi‘s sublime music with filmed
testimonies given by the survivors who participated in those concentration-camp concerts. The concert
also includes footage from Nazi propaganda films produced during that period in order to prove to the
world that Terezin was the site of a vibrant cultural life. This production at the Israel Festival took place
with the participation of the actors Yona Elianand Sasson Gabai who told the story of the prisoners at
this famous camp, where tens of thousands of Jews arrived before being sent to the Nazi extermination
camps.
„This is the first time we are bringing Defiant Requiem to Israel, and this is a very serious test for
us. The music here is in the service of the memory; we are telling the story of people‘s fight for
their dignity, being hungry and sick in the ghetto of Terezin.“ Murray Sidlin
Forman Brothers Theater / Obludarium
Date: 27. 5.– 6.6. 2012
Venue: Jerusalem Theater Square
Number of performances: 9
Attendance: 1.350 (sold out)
Sponsors and partners: Staropramen, Israel Festival
Director: Petr Forman
Choreographer: Veronika Svabova
Technical Director: Matej Forman
A two-hour-long cabaret-circus in an impressive tent that redefines the circus experience. The creators
of this performance set off to undermine the conventions of commercial theater, and to present a
world attuned to the most basic feelings, that respects simplicity and embraces enigmas and mysteries.
Assembled in the arena of this cabaret-circus are 15 jugglers, dancers and actors who combine
remarkable physical, creative, and theatrical skills. The colorful, intriguing, and grotesque characters
present a picturesque image of an itinerant circus. This unique experience culminates with a direct
encounter between audience members and performers, who are transformed into hosts toasting their
guests with glasses of traditional Czech beer. This performance was the recipient of the 2009 award for
best Czech Theater Performance.
„Simply great! Better than Cirque de Soleil or other shows. This has soul, feelings, joy and
tragedy as every human beeing. Love this show, probably one of the best on the globe.“
Facebook fan
DOT504 / Ma Hunt
Date: 5. 6. 2012 at 20:30
Venue: Jerusalem Theater, Rebecca Crown Auditorium
Attendance: 450 (sold out)
Sponsors and partners: Israel Festival
Date: 6 6. 2012 at 11:00
Venue: Masterclass at the Israel Arts and Science Academy High School
Attendance: 50
Sponsors and partners: Israel Festival
Choreographers and Dancers: Lenka Vágnerová, Pavel Mašek
Artistic director: Lenka Ottová
The dance-theater group Dot504 was established in 2006 by Lenka Ottová. This performance depicts
a future reality where human beings continue living on planet Earth after the extinction of all animals.
The two dancers express the relationship between the hunter and his prey, moving with extreme care in
relation to one another in a a highly intense work.
“Great show! Very inspiring and touching.” Facebook fan
Kühn Choir of Prague
Date: 1. 6. 2012 at 11:00
Venue: Jerusalem Theater, Henry Crown Hall
Attendance: 450
Sponsors and partners: Israel Festival
The Kühn Choir of Prague is one of the most highly regarded choirs in the Czech Republic, which is
renowned for its choir music. The choir was established 50 years ago by Pavel Kühn, who served as its
conductor until his death in 2003. The choir‘s current artistic director is Marek Vorlíček. The repertoire
chosen for the festival included the three masterpieces of Czech Romanticism and Modern Music:
Dvořák‘s „Moravian Duets,“ Bohuslav Martinů‘s „Four Songs About Mary,“ and the remarkable requiem by
Zdeněk Lukáš.
„Requiem is an extraordinarily difficult piece of music to perform under the best of circumstances,
even when you are healthy and well fed. It is a work of great strenght.“ The Prague Kuhn Choir
„The magnificent Kuhn Choir, filled the enormous hall with Elysian voices, came especially from
Prague for this amazing performance, brought to Jerusalem by the Czech Government with a
great deal of help from Czech Ambassador to Israel Tomas Pojar, whose late father was also a
Czech Ambassador to Israel. In his short but moving speech after the performance Ambassador
Pojar made it clear that we have at least one friend in Europe, one ally. What country could
possibly understand our isolation than the Czechs who suffered so terribly in World War Two
and under Soviet autocracy.“ The Times of Israel
Jaroslav Jakubovic and friends
Date: 5. 6. 2012 at 23:00
Venue: Jerusalem Theater, Jazz club
Attendance: 300
Sponsors and partners: Jerusalem Municipality, Israel Festival
Date: 8. 6. 2012 at 15:30
Venue: Ben Shetach Street
Attendance: 700
Sponsors and partners: Jerusalem Municipality, Israel Festival
Special performance of the saxophone player Jaroslav Jakubovic at the jazz club together with the singer
Berenika Kohoutová and the trombone player Peter Palesnik from the Czech Republic, and the Israeli
musicians Arad Yeini (trumpet), Moran Baron (trombone), Adi Renert (keyboard), Israel Nahum (drums)
and Tzur Ben Ze‘ev (bass).
„Moc se mi to líbilo, je možné koupit nějaké CD?“ Facebook fan
„Velký úspěch v Jeruzalémě!” Facebook fan
Czech Culinary Days
Dates: 4. – 9.6. 2012
Venue: Little Prague Tel Aviv, Bat Yam and Ashdod
Attendance: 300
Sponsors and partners: Little Prague, Pilsner Urquell, ICCCI
Radek Prihonsky was born in 1966 in Prague. He is a gastronomy advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Czech Republic and is responsible for menus on the occasions of foreign state visits. He also works
for restaurants and hotels. In cooperation with restaurant Little Prague he prepared a special Czech menu.
Part of the program was screening of the EURO 2012 football championship CR - Russia.
“Vynikající kachýnka!” Facebook fan
EXHIBITONS
Prague Functionalism
Date: 13. 5. - 15. 6. 2012
Venue: Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv
Attendance: 1000
Sponsors and partners: Czech Center Tel Aviv, Gallery of Jaroslav Fragner, Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv
Czech Centre Tel Aviv together with the Bauhaus Center Tel Aviv and Gallery of Jaroslav Fragner in Prague
presented an exhibition of the highlights of Prague functionalist architecture: Prague Functionalism:
Tradition and Contemporary Echoes.
Prague Panoramic
Date: June 2012
Venue: Jerusalem Theater Lobby
Attendance: 2500
Sponsors and partners: City of Prague, Jerusalem Theater
The exhibition of the large scale pictures of Prague was open in the lobby of the Jerusalem Theatre during
the whole time of Israel Festival
„Prague Panorama is an incredible photographic exhibit. The uniqueness of this exhibiton is its
ability to show different perspectives of the city.“ Time Out
Assasination of Reinhard Heydrich
Date: May - August 2012
Venues: Knesset Jerusalem, Rafael Ltd., Dvora Fischer Gallery in ZOA House Tel Aviv
Attendance: 3000
Sponsors and partners: Military History Institute Prague, ICCCI
The exhibition was inaugurated by the Speaker of the Parliament of the Czech Republic in the Knesset
during her official visit of Israel. From June to July it was relocated to the company Rafael Advance
Defense System where over 4000 employees could see it. In August the exhibition was opened to general
public in the Dvora Fischer Gallery in ZOA House in Tel Aviv.
Prague ZOO
Date: June - September 2012
Venue: Biblical ZOO Jerusalem
Attendance: 2000
Sponsors and partners: Czech Center Tel Aviv, Prague ZOO, City of Prague
Two exhibitions about the Prague ZOO and the preservation of the protected kind of animals From Myna
to Bearded Vulture and Gorillas in Danger were open for public in the space of Biblical ZOO in Jerusalem.
„…the handsome silverback gorilla Richard, his wives and babies, all from the Prague ZOO,
the main protagonists of the Czech reality show now have a chance to become famous also in
Israel. The exhibition“ „Gorilla in Danger“, prepared by zoologists from the Prague is telling real
stories and fairy tales from Gorilla`s family life.“
SPECIAL EVENTS
Reception in Jerusalem Theater
Date: 5. 6. 2012
Venue: Jerusalem Theater Foyer
Attendance: 200 people
Sponsors and partners: ICCCI, Skoda Car (Champion Motors), Staropramen
A festive reception was organized and hosted by the Embassy of the Czech Republic with the support of
the Israeli Czech Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Staropramen and Skoda Car (Champion Motors)
on the occasion of the official opening of the Days of Prague at the presence of the representatives of
the Prague and Jerusalem municipalities. The reception took place in the foyer of the Jerusalem Theater
and started with the opening of the exhibition Prague Panoramic. Among over 200 participants where
significant businessmen, dignitaries, artists and Czech compatriots. The event was followed by the
performance of DOT 504, Obludarium by the Forman Brothers Theater and a concert of Jaroslav Jakubovic
and his friends.