Czech Centres get new leader with “bold vision”
The Czech Centres, which promote Czech culture around the globe, have a new director general. Jitka Pánek Jurková, who for some years headed the Czech Centre in Brussels, says her priorities will include using the arts to promote values and tailoring the network’s activities to individual countries.
There are now more than two dozen Czech Centres on four continents around the world. The network, which comes under the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is tasked with promoting various aspects of Czech culture.
Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský outlines what he regards as the value of the soft power organisation, which is analogous to British Councils or Germany’s Goethe Institutes.
“Of course public diplomacy is one of the most important tools which we have in international politics. And the Czech Centres – 28 of them – are a unique platform to show what Czechia is about, what Czech people, what we are able to craft, paint, sing, play. It’s important that this is also part of our diplomacy.”
From December 1 the Czech Centres have a new head, Jitka Pánek Jurková, who until recently led the branch in the Belgian capital Brussels.
“The predominant concern, I would say, of the Czech Centres is sensitivity to local context, and the needs of the audiences that you are working with. That being said, however, you still need to have a very solid strategic line of public diplomacy. I would be aiming to reconcile these two a bit paradoxical or contrasting needs and positions, in my position as director general.”
Speaking at her induction into the post at the Foreign Ministry’s grand Černín Palace on Friday, Ministry Lipavský outlined just why Ms. Pánek Jurková has been selected to lead the organisation in the coming years.
“Very good results when leading the Czech Centre in Brussels, also during the Czech presidency of the EU Council. And I’m glad that she came with a bold vision of how to promote Czechia. She’s also an academic in the same field, so it makes sense to me that she will now be in charge of these activities.”
When it comes to the arts, the Czech Centres often promote the country’s literature, visual art and cinema and I was curious if there was any field Ms. Pánek Jurková felt ought to receive more attention.
“I would like to us to realise that we really are a value-based actor. It is not necessarily only about if you are presenting dance or if you are presenting cinema – but what kind of message, and what kind of values are you bringing forward through these art forms. So that is a very important point of departure for me, and I do consider our responsibility for international exchange and openness as a primary one.”
Jitka Pánek Jurková says one of her first tasks in the job will be drafting a new strategy for Czech Centres at the beginning of next year.
