We’ve got a ton of exciting events coming up, all in the span of a week! Learn more about all of these events so you don’t miss out on everything NCSML has to offer! From BrewNost to the President’s Visit, here is a timeline of all our upcoming events. Just click on the event you want to learn about for more information!
A Week of Celebration!
WHEN: Thursday, September 19 from 5 pm – 6 pm
WHERE: Skala Bartizal Library, NCSML
COST: Free! RSVP to attend.
Award-winning photojournalist Jana Rajcova has been collecting stories of Ukrainians who escaped the Russian invasion and found their refuge in Slovakia and documenting them in her Exodus Report. Jana has presented her Exodus Report project online to two different audiences in the United States and her photos and stories have been shown at several galleries in Slovakia.
The opening will include a presentation by the artist on the story and significance of her work. Light refreshments will be provided.
Sponsored by: Friends of Slovakia
WHEN: Friday, September 20 from 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm (VIP Admission start time: 5:30 pm)
WHERE: NCSML, Outdoor Event
COST: Three ticket levels: VIP ($150), General Admission ($75), Designated Driver ($50)
Enjoy food and beverage from some of the area’s finest restaurants, local breweries and distilleries, along with international beers, wine, and spirits. Supporting the educational and cultural mission of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, this festive outdoor celebration includes live music, live and silent auction prizes, and the drawing of the BrewNost raffle prize — a trip for two to Prague! (Need not be present to win)
This year we are celebrating NCSML’s 50th anniversary, with a special focus on international cuisine to commemorate our mission: to inspire individuals with universal themes of culture, freedom, democracy, and immigration. All guests will receive special 50th anniversary BrewNost mugs or glasses as well!
Live music will be performed by Czech brass band Dolněmčanka, who will be making their first stop in the US leg of their tour here in Cedar Rapids!
Check out our live auction and silent auction prizes: with opportunities to win Hawkeye merchandise signed by Caitlin Clark or a special dinner with the President of Slovakia!
WHEN: Saturday, September 21 from 2 pm – 4 pm
WHERE: Skala Bartizal Library, NCSML
COST: Free!
Please join us for the dedication of the Mila and Eva Rechcigl Research Room with honored guest and speaker Mila Rechcigl Jr., Ph.D. The research room is a new addition to our library, and we’re proud to introduce the space and tools for those interested in all manners of research to utilize the resources NCSML can provide!
Light refreshments will be served. Everyone is welcome to join and celebrate this new addition to our Skala Bartizal Library!
About the Speaker
Miloslav (Mila) Rechcigl Jr., Ph.D. is the past president of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences (SVU). He is a central figure in Czech and Slovak research and is an avid scholar and publisher. Dr. Rechcigl has been called “a man of many talents.” He has been referred to as a Renaissance man, due to the breadth of his knowledge and scholarly interests. Born in former Czechoslovakia, he was the son of the youngest member of the Czechoslovak Parliament. Dr. Rechcigl spent the war years under Nazi occupation. After the communist coup d’état, he escaped to the West and immigrated to the United States.
Dr. Rechcigl received training as a biochemist at Cornell University, and spent his career as a research biochemist at the National Institutes of Health. Apart from his scientific and administrative pursuits, he has served as the editor of several scientific articles and has authored over 30 books. He is considered an authority on immigration and “Czechoslovak” history.
WHEN: Tuesday, September 24 from 4 pm – 6:30 pm
WHERE: Petrik Gallery, NCSML
COST: Free!
We are excited to introduce our new exhibit: Contemporary Takes on Folk Motifs!
The designs and patterns of Moravian folk art are centuries old. Czech architect and designer Helena Dařbujánová, in cooperation with the Moravian Glory Foundation, brings a breathtaking display connecting ancient folklore to modern design. One dozen designers use traditional patterns and fabrics in completely new and edgy ways.
Light refreshments will be available to purchase.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 25 from 5 pm – 6:30 pm
WHERE: Jiruska Gallery (Permanent Exhibit), NCSML
COST: Free!
The Slovak Epic exhibit will be opening in the NCSML permanent exhibit area on Wednesday, September 25 from 5 pm – 6:30 pm as a result of cooperation with Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave (UCM) and other partners from Slovakia. The exhibit displays a series of remarkable photos made by a well-known, internationally recognized Slovak photographer Martin Machaj, who is also the author of the project.
Clothing is one of the most representative components of traditional culture. It forms an integral part of our cultural heritage. This exhibition presents the last representatives of traditional clothing/costumes in Slovak regions. It presents them with a new, hitherto unknown perspective of an art photographer with texts prepared by an ethnologist.
The authors consider traditional clothing as part of the cultural heritage, which is being lost on everyday basis in the whirling time, and with the last representatives, its spirit and the genius loci of the country that they have been creating are going to be gone as well.
The photographs capture the joys, worries and life stories of people in their natural environment, in cottages, in front of the houses, on holidays and on regular, everyday occasions.
Together with the last representatives of the costumes, the exhibit authors also want to point out the transformation of clothing in the contemporary modern world, the changes the costume has undergone, and the aspects which are necessary for its survival, preservation and presentation. The authors document these clothes on local activists, folklore groups and on those who preserve, save, modify and remake the costumes in the villages. Selected costumes represent the regions from which most migrants left for overseas in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Thus, the descendants of Slovaks living in the USA have a unique opportunity to look into the locations of their ancestors and, thanks to the photographs, have contacts with their roots. The photos are accompanied by short captions in Slovak and English.
The Slovak Epic exhibit contains 25 representative banners capturing the diversity of traditional clothing regions of Slovakia in their archaic form, supplemented by short descriptions of the situation and the region.
About the Artist: Martin Machaj
The career of Martin Machaj began in Paris, where he lived and worked from 1995. There the Slovak artist discovered a natural ability to express emotion, passion and ideas through the lens. Further studies took Martin to New York, where he developed the unique, signature style of capturing images with heart, soul and meaning. His fascination with exotic locales, people and customs took him around the world and back again. Martin felt compelled to share these extraordinary experiences and connections with the world, which he had the great fortune to appreciate during his travels.
From the dangerous climate in South Sudan to the explosive-tempered tribes of Papua New Guinea, Martin traversed deserts, swamps and tundra, to connect with indigenous clans, in some of the most remote places on the planet. Places which are not easily accessible, and so few left which remain untouched by our modern world.
WHEN: Wednesday, September 25 from 6:30 pm – 8 pm
WHERE: Hrsuka Room, NCSML
COST: Free!
What made a 29 year old stock broker give up his winter skiing holiday and rescue 669 young children from a foreign country? Hear from the son of Sir Nicholas Winton speak about the life-saving events that transformed the destiny of so many people on Wednesday, September 25 from 6:30 pm – 8 pm in NCSML’s Hruska Room.
The Kindertransport from Czechoslovakia lasted less than 9 months and yet had a profound impact on so many people. For Nick’s father it was a short interlude in his eventful life and is dramatically brought to the screen by Sir Anthony Hopkins in the recent film ‘One Life’.
Sir Nicholas lived at home and played Bridge right up until his death at 106 years old. He kept in contact with a number of his “Children” many of whom made significant contributions to the arts, media, science, politics and their communities.
Nick, the son of Sir Nicholas, will recount the story from an insider’s perspective illustrated with photos and video from the family archive.
An inspirational presentation about how one man rescued 669 children. This wartime story has captured the imagination of film-makers, writers and TV audiences around the world. Nick gives a moving account of the desperate plight of families in the run-up to WWII and how the rescue organised by Sir Nicholas Winton a London Stockbroker, changed so many lives. The story is even more powerful because the saviour, sometimes referred to as “The British Schindler” is his father. It is estimated that over 5,000 people are alive today as a direct result of his actions
About Nick Winton
Nick is the son of Sir Nicholas Winton MBE, who organized the Kindertransport from Czechoslovakia before the Second World War saving 669 children. Awarded a knighthood for his services to humanity, his father was also involved in many other humanitarian activities including for the Mentally Handicapped and the elderly in care.
Following the sale of his own group of companies Nick was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor with a prognosis of up to 5 years of life. This gave him real-life experience of the unpredictable nature of the world we live in and the importance of managing uncertainty. After surgery he
enrolled at the Business School at Imperial College in London where he graduated with an MBA (cum laude). Subsequently, in a career as Interim CEO or Managing Director he piloted many companies in both the public and private sectors both in London and New York. Specializing in
turnarounds and start-ups, he navigated the highs and the lows of motivating and managing teams that were usually under great stress. He now advises boards of directors and is a trustee of Norden Farm Centre for the Arts, an award-winning charity in the family hometown of Maidenhead and is also trustee of a charity providing diagnostic genomic solutions.
An international speaker, his audiences have ranged from corporate workshops and events, schools, community colleges, synagogues, and fund-raisers with audiences varying from 15 to 15,000. Using his father’s story as a starting point, audiences learn what a great impact they can make in
the world.
Nick’s interests include current affairs, economics, opera (particularly Mozart), mime, beautiful architecture, and walking in gardens and parks.
He was trained in aerobatics by the RAF and held a private pilot’s license. As an escape, Nick enjoys travelling around Europe by motorbike. He married his wife Dominque at a ceremony in Prague, Czech Republic, the starting point for the Kindertransport organized by his father, Sir Nicholas.
WHEN: Friday, September 27
- Motorcade through Czech Village: 10:00 am
- Presidents on the Terrace: 11:45 am
- Clocktower Dedication: Noon
WHERE: NCSML, Buresh Immigration Clocktower (Museum Interior will be CLOSED from 9 am – 3 pm. Museum will reopen from 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm.)
COST: Free!
Parking at the museum will be CLOSED. Please park on the grass field behind 17th Ave SW. Signage and flaggers will be on-site to guide traffic. Golf carts will be available for those with accessibility needs.
The grand unveiling of our astronomical clocktower is happening on Friday, September 27 at noon and is free and open to the public! The dedication will be joined by President Petr Pavel of the Czech Republic and President Peter Pellegrini of Slovakia!
The celebration will include a motorcade at 10:00 am, a historic reprise of the photos taken between former Czech & Slovak presidents with President Bill Clinton in 1995 at 11:45, which will lead directly into the clocktower dedication at noon.
A pop-up store will be open during the celebration with special 50th anniversary and clocktower merchandise!
The schedule for this event may change, so please keep checking our website for the most up-to-date information!
In 2024, NCSML is celebrating its 50th anniversary of fulfilling its mission to “engage the global community with unique Czech, Slovak, and American stories to inspire individuals with universal themes of culture, freedom, democracy, and immigration.”
One of the focal points of the celebration relates to the renovation of the NCSML clock tower that was built in 1995. The existing clock tower will be repaired and enhanced with the addition of an orloj clock. The NCSML Orloj will be modeled after the famous Prague Orloj that is attached to the Old Town Hall in Prague. It is the oldest, functioning astronomical clock in the world dating back to the 15th century AD.
This renovation includes the complex astronomical and clock mechanism called an astrolabe. All astrolabe parts that are in contact with the outside environment are made of stainless steel. The astrolabe graphics, such as numbers, lines, and symbols are gilded with 24-karat gold. The renovation also includes adding 12 figurines (each almost 4 feet tall) on two carousels that awaken on the hour to mesmerize viewers who can watch them rotate to the music of Czech composers Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana. The twelve figurines express the stories of immigrants, with a farmer, a coal miner, a meatpacker, and other sculptures representing those who came to the United States from Czech, Slovak, Moravian, and other lands.
Andrej Harsany of Bratislava, Slovakia, is sculpting the 12 figurines, and the SPEL Company from Prague, Czechia, who is engaged with the development and production of clock electronic systems, reconstruction, and maintenance of outdoor clock types, is building the fully digitized inner workings of the NCSML astronomical clock. Neumann Monson Inc., with offices in Iowa City and Des Moines, is the project architect and Graham Construction of Cedar Rapids is the construction manager.
The NCSML Orloj Clock Tower is going to be a major tourist attraction for the entire historic and cultural district of Cedar Rapids. This unique destination is just one more way NCSML can share the universal themes of culture, freedom, democracy, and immigration to all who visit it.
Read more about the Orloj in the Cedar Rapids Gazette article written by Diana Nollen.