How do Copts live in contemporary Egypt? Drs. Cornelius Hulsman, Dutch sociologist and director of the Centre for intercultural dialogue, will speak about the most numerous Christian minority in the Middle East in relation to the last events in Egypt. The lecture will be held in English.

Accept the invitation of the hospitable Arabs and get to know their homes, families, traditions and dishes. Your hosts will be prominent Czech and foreign scholars and artists during the whole festival week. You can look forward to the number of musical and culinary surprises during the opening ceremony.

Vynikající syrský hudebník Wasfí al-Massaraní bude koncertovat v Plzni! Nenechte si ujít koncert syrsko-české kapely Ribelo, která přináší tradiční arabské melodie v novém moderním pojetí. Atmosféru večera dokreslí vystoupení egyptského tanečníka Osama Mimi Faraga.

Do not hesitate to peek into the life of the Middle East people! Come to visit the Arab house, where the organizers and the guests of the big Saturday programme will welcome you warmly. You can look forward to discussions about Arab traditions and customs, drum and dance workshop, Arab-language workshop or travellers lecture about Socotra, the Yemen island. You can rest while playing backgammon or you can taste dishes from the chefs of Kuwait and Tunisia embassies. Do not miss the oriental market and the degustation of Algerian wine. Children´s programme provided. You can find all under one roof! Download detailed event schedule.

Taste with us more than 25 different dishes of the classical Arab cuisine in cold buffet form! You will learn more about the traditional preparation of Arab dishes from Charif Bahbouh, the co-author of book “Syrian and Lebanese Cuisine”. Entrance fee: 200Kč, limited number of seats, booking necessary!

Come to see a unique photo exhibition showing the Cairo Islamic architecture in its full beauty. Your guide is going to be Mgr. Hana Nováková, Ph.D., specialist on the Islamic architecture and the co-author of the book “Cairo – Architecture and Art of the Islamic Megacity”.

Not everyone is aware of the fact that Agatha Christie lived with her husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan, in Arabian countries for a long period time. Prominent Czech historian and archaeologist Prof. Petr Charvát will introduce you engagingly and interestingly to their lives.

An evening from Chalif's palace. Reading from beautiful Arab literature and Orient dance perfomance. Enjoy your cup of tea, small Arab snack and let yourself be carried away by the atmosphere of the evening with an improvised drum-dance session at the end.

Dr. Jaromít Harmáček from the Department of Development Studies at the Science Faculty of Universtiy in Olomouc will describe the specific features of the Middle Eastern Region from the international development and the development aid point of view including the Czech engagement.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia represents a country which external economic balance is highly dependent on the oil sphere. The lecture of doc. Maitah will introduce the theoretical possibilities to break the dependence and he will analyze the development of oil prices and it influence on balance of payments and the current account of Saudi Arabia in 1970 - 2011.

Black desert and White desert are completely different areas situated in the Western part of Egypt in the middle of the Libyan dessert. Two worlds which contrariness is evident and their names suit best to these differences. Their beauty was captured in Martin Rudiš´s photos during the first Czech expedition of the National Geographic Magazine.

One of the core issues in the Shiite Islam is the belief that the twelfth imam disappeared in the second half of the 9th century and since then he has been persisting in hiding. The Shiite community thus misses their religious leader for more than 1100 years. How has the concept of the disappeared imam evolved in theory and praxis? Dr. Roy Vilozny will focus on Shiite Islam in his English lecture.

The new Egyptian constitution is widely regarded to be far from perfect. It was accepted in a referendum that had been widely opposed. Is it a mirror of divided Egyptian society? What is the role of the Constitutional Court? Drs. Cornelius Hulsman, a Dutch sociologist, will answer these questions and many more in his English lecture.

Visit the Berber communities in the Southern Tunisia with the Africanise Mgr. Jakub Kydlíček. The lecture will be accompanied with photos from his legwork in Tunisia.

Personal reflexion of film director Moris Issa who studied in the Czech Republic in 1960s and has lived here ever since. He will recollect his childhood and life in Syria and will speak about the current events in the Middle East as well as about his life in the Czech Republic.

In cooperation with the Czech-Arab Association and the Anna Lindh Foundation we would like to invite you to the screening of two documentary films about the “Arab Spring”, the wave of protests which appeared in the whole Middle East and North Africa. The film “Karama Has No Walls” will take you to Yemen and the film “Zero Silence” will be about the protests in Tunisia, Egypt and Libanon. The discussion with specialists on the Middle East will be a part of the screening.

How do early literary materials describe the tough life of Shiite Muslims before the world creation to the end of the days? Dr. Roy Vilozny from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem will answer this question in his English lecture.

How does the life situation of Moroccan women look like? Does the women´s social status differ from other North African states? The ambassador of the Moroccan kingdom, Her Excellency Mrs. Souriya Otmani will speak about the problems and successes of Moroccan women in her English lecture.

Come to see a unique photo exhibition picturing “their worlds” and get to know the magical, un-known world of Arab women. Kamila Berndorffová, the author of the exhibition, caught the private insight into the citizens´ world in the Middle East.

Caravanserai: a place where tired caravans and lonely travellers can rest, have fun, exchange goods and information after the long journey under tough conditions of the Middle East. At the same time it is one of the authentic demonstrations of the Middle Eastern architecture. Dr. Daniel Křížek will introduce caravanserai in all its aspects including a unique multifunctional usage, specific architecture and regional differences using a rich photography material.

The drum band Gamar and Ziriab, a vocal-instrumental legend, is to introduce a colourful range of passionate rhythms, melodies and lyrics, which were born in various corners of Arabian world, all accompanied by sensual moves of oriental dancers.

Visit the Arab writers. Prominent Czech scholars will introduce different themes of Arab literature across the genres and time. For instance, speakers will focus on satire in the classical Arab poetry or modern Tunisian poets. The conference is hosted by a literary scholar doc. František Ondráš.

Peek together with PhDr. Barbora Černá, expert in Arabic culture, into the world where the glitzy illusions of TV production co-exist with serious and current topics formerly considered taboo.

“Sovereign”, “Miss Cat”, “Sunset” are not Middle Eastern soap operas, they are great Lebanese wines! Tomáš Blahut, a specialist on Lebanese wines, will guide you through the degustation and will introduce you to these wines. The number of seats is limited. We recommed to come earlier. We will not be able to allow more than 25 people to enter this event.

The play of Kámen Theatre, which was awarded the best play at the Czech experimental theatre parade in Písek in 2012, will be presented in Plzeň! The play is about losing an important device and the following expectations. Entrance fee: students 60Kč, adults 80kč. You can buy the tickets in the ticket office of Plzeňská vstupenka in advance.

Come to join the traditional festival discussion concerning the current political situation in the Middle East. This year we focus on crisis in Syria which is often referred as to a civil war. The guests discussing the topic will be from medias, the Association for Foreign Affairs and the Initiative for Free Syria.

How did Jews live in the medieval towns? Mgr. Michal Nedelka will introduce the important aspects of existence and everyday life of such communities in Fatimid Cairo and Abbasid Baghdad.

Druze, a member of a Middle Eastern community, has to follow many parameters excluding the heart choice in the process of choosing a partner and future husband or wife. Tereza Svášková will speak about the “journey” from getting known each other to the wedding ceremony. The lecture is based on her own legwork among Lebanese Druzes.

Ing. Rachid Khalil, Kurdish musician, translator and the chairperson of the Kurdish civic society, will speak about the culture, tradition, history as well as attitude of his nation to the “Arab spring”. The discussion about the rich cultural heritage and national history without an own state will end up with a musical performance.