Olga, Vlado and the Age of Manga / a literary discussion at Art Cafe

Art Cafe invites you to an evening of cheerful stories and memories of the sombre days of the Cold War in Czechoslovakia. Come and meet two good friends, adventurers who began their journey on the streets of Bratislava in August 1968 and ended up on the other side of the globe, somewhere far away in a beatnik settlement in Hawaii. Oľga Urminská, the late Slovak poet, and her husband Vlado, whom you may recognise from Dušan Hanák’s film *322*. We’ll be talking about her books *Devy* and *Čas manga*, about how they painted a fake visa together, how they saved trees from the flood, and how they avoided the Vietnam War. Or, to put it another way, there are plenty of stories to go round. Life is for enjoyment. If you fancy it, the evening might even take a turn towards education. For example, how Vlado accidentally raised a top mathematician simply because he’s no good at maths, and top female chess players simply because he’s no good at chess. And how the same can be done with your own offspring in a field that the parent is completely hopeless at. Vlado has a wealth of stories; he’s 78, which is almost 80, and 80 is almost 100. The anecdotes that have been strung like beads on the thread of his life will, on 3 October, be woven together for a shared evening at the Art Café. He’ll be talking about them, reminiscing, perhaps musing a little, and perhaps even having a laugh with his friend Peťo Markovský. And anyone who’s interested can also take a look at Vlado’s children’s books, *Noah’s Table* and *Noah’s Ladders*. Vlado will arrive on a flying carpet – known as an aeroplane – from a distant island in the middle of the Pacific, and he’ll bring his American daughter Zuzka from Philadelphia to introduce her to us. Peťo will hitchhike from Prague, where he now lives. Come and join us in the Art Cafe loft on Saturday 3 October 2026 at 4.00 pm. The Art Cafe cultural centre’s programme has been supported by the Tatra Bank Foundation as part of the ‘28 Years of Art Cafe’ project. Thanks in part to the Foundation, admission to this event is by voluntary donation. THANK YOU.

FB event here.

http://www.artcafe.sk