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Václav Havel—playwright, human rights activist, and now
president of the Czech Republic—has had a distinguished literary
career and a remarkable political one. His first theatrical works
were produced in the 1960s, and since then he has authored numerous
plays and essays. Honored for his literary explorations of the moral
questions raised by bureaucratic and totalitarian regimes, he has
received a number of awards, including the Austrian State Prize
for European Literature, the Frankfurt Book Fair Peace Prize, the
Sonning Cultural Prize, and many others.
A participant in the Prague Spring, the short-lived period of reform
in 1968, Mr. Havel was by 1977 a major leader in his country's human
rights movement, serving as spokesman for the leading dissident
group, Charter 77. In 1979 he was sentenced by his country's Communist
government to four and half years imprisonment for sedition.
Today, 15 years later, in one of history's more poetic reversals,
President Havel occupies the same office in Prague Castle where
Gustav Husák, the man responsible for his imprisonment, once
sat. In this office overlooking the Malá Strana district and
the Vltava River that bisects the city—President Havel met
with Miguel Angel Corzo, Director of the Getty Conservation Institute,
to discuss the task of cultural heritage preservation in a period
of historic political and economic change. They were joined by Dr.
Eliska Fucíková, Director of the National Heritage
Department of the Office of the President.
Miguel Angel Corzo: Since 1989 when democratization began, what
are some of the changes that have occurred in your country with
regard to the conservation and preservation of the cultural heritage?
President Havel: It is not as easy as things seemed to be at the
beginning. On one hand, some opportunities have opened up. In the
case of many houses or even castles that have been restored to their
original owners, restoration or conservation work has progressed
past the point that was the case when the properties were owned
by the state. And we can see in the streets of Prague, for example,
many renovation works in progress.
But there is a dangerous aspect to this, of course. As has happened
in other historic cities elsewhere, there is a threat that the rapid
advance of a market economy may bring with it some lack of sensitivity
to the cultural heritage. A new piece of national legislation on
conservation of monuments is now being prepared which I hope will
lay down rules for the approach to monuments, so as to avoid instances
where, for example, someone would preserve the facade of a house
but tear down everything behind it and replace it. Legislation is essential indeed, but I imagine that there is
another aspect which is also very important, and that is your moral
authority as president. How can you create an awareness of the importance
of the cultural heritage as president of your country?
Of course, my voice being the voice of the president is heard more
perhaps than the voice of an ordinary citizen. Therefore I can help
things by pointing them out in my public statements. In the area
of constitutional power, I do not have many opportunities to exert
a direct influence on these matters. But I can try to exert an indirect
influence by helping to generate a favorable climate through my
public statements and pronouncements.
Because of contemporary society's pressing social needs, there
are those who say that expenditures on cultural heritage preservation
must wait. I know you have reflected on this dilemma, and I imagine
that as a leader it must be difficult for you to reconcile these
two demands on resources.
It is a very complicated task for the government—and in particular
for the parliament—to decide on the allocation of the budget funds
to meet many needs, all of which are equally important. And of course
the parliament, as an elected entity, should resolve these issues
in a responsible manner and in accordance with the will of the citizens. I do attach a great importance to having a variety of sources for
the funding of monument conservation, particularly in those cases
where funds may be lacking in the budget or where, for reasons of
balance, they have to be allocated to other purposes. Right now
preparations are under way for passing legislation on nonprofit
organizations which should provide the legislative framework for
alternative avenues of finance.
Eliska Fucíková: In the president's family, they
have divided their volunteer duties, with the president taking care
of monuments and his wife of charitable works. The president has
in fact established a foundation in support of Prague Castle, while
Mrs. Havel is chairing the Olga Havel Foundation, helping children,
the disabled, and aged people.
A fair separation of tasks. Has the experience of being president
changed or modified your view of the place of culture in society?
President Havel: I would not say that my work as a president has
in any principal way changed my views concerning the position of
culture in the spiritual life of society. But now that I can see
into the complex decision making process of government, I realize
that things may often be more complicated than they seem to be when
looked at from the outside—especially now that the system for
the promotion of culture is being changed in the context of the
overall transformation of our economy. So in that regard, I have
acquired new knowledge that has caused me to recognize that things
are often not as easy as many might think. There are so many monuments, paintings, manuscripts, and now
photographs...our cultural heritage inventory becomes larger and
larger every year. Because society doesn't have enough funds to
save everything, certain decisions have to be made as to what stays
and what is left to disintegrate. You are a writer, a thinker, a
philosopher. How would you decide what stays and what goes? What
sort of criteria would you apply?
In that respect I would rather listen to what the experts say to
that because, after all, this is what they are for. Of course, some
of the more conservative specialists in the area of monuments conservation
would like to preserve everything, which of course is not feasible.
But I do believe that an expert discussion is necessary, and I would
be happy to respect the outcome of such a discussion.
As you are well aware, your office and the GCI are working together
at St. Vitus Cathedral on the conservation of The Last Judgment
mosaic. Can this type of cooperation serve as a model for the kind
of collaboration this country can have with other cultural institutions
in the world?
I think, indeed, that this is an excellent example of cultural
cooperation, which is of great significance, both to us and generally.
Of course, cultural heritage does not belong to us only. And there
are certainly many other instances where we would welcome a similar
kind of cooperation.
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