Hanoi (VNA) - The Kafka Festival Hanoi 2018 will review thelegacy of great writer Franz Kafka (1883-1924) through exhibitions, filmscreenings, concerts and dance performances. 

Activities running from now until April 14,co-sponsored by a wide range of embassies and cultural partners, aim to helpVietnamese readers better understand Kafka’s life, vision, philosophy andcareer, said Czech Ambassador Vitezslav Grepl at a press briefing on March 24.

An exhibition entitled “Kafka — A Journey toVietnamese Readers” will be held at the East-West Cultural Space, HeritageSpace and Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities until April14. 

The exhibition, presented in Vietnamese andEnglish, features a number of valuable photos and information on the novelist’slife and career, which were collected and presented worldwide by the FranzKafka Society in Prague, Czech Republic.

Before coming to Vietnamese readers, the exhibition was held in Hong Kong(2013), Bangkok (2014) and other Asian cities.

During the event, a number of rare publications, such as translations ofKafka’s works and books about him, which have been printed in Vietnam since the1960s, will also be displayed for visitors to grasp the legacy of Franz Kafkain Vietnam.
Cinema lovers can enjoy various films and documentaries including Who WasKafka? (Switzerland), Joseph Kilian (Czech Republic), TheCastle (Germany and Austria) and TheTrial (France, Germany and Italy).

Writer Kafka was born in Prague inthe Czech Republic, in a German-speaking Jewish family. He wrotemostly in German. He travelled through many European countries,including Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy.Many of his famous works were inspired by and written during his journeys.

“His works present a vision that was ahead ofhis time in their content and artistic style,” said Grepl. “Therefore hislegacy is an inestimable treasure for our people that we will continuouslyadmire and try to discover.”

Kafka is widely studied across the world. Inliterature, he is regarded as a critical influence on postmodern writers. Buthis works also contributed to many other literary schools and laterphilosophies such as irrationalism, magical realism and existentialism.

Accordingly, the Kafka Festival’s programmingspans diverse events and spaces.

Kafka’s Corners with souvenirs and books available at a discount will bearranged in more than 20 different cultural spaces in Hanoi including East WestCultural Space, Heritage Space, Nha Nam bookstores, TPD CinemaDevelopment Centre, Bluebirds’ Nest café and Tranquil Book café.

The screening of the film Who WasKafka?, which recreates the life of the author through stories andmemories from his relatives, including his best friend Max Brod, fiancé FeliceBauer and lover Milena Jesenska, will be attended by Swiss Ambassador BeatriceMaser Mallor. She will share with audiences the importance of Kafka’s legacy tohumanity in general as well as to the people of Switzerland inparticular – a country he loved and visited many times.

The Old Quarter Cultural Exchange Centre (50 DaoDuy Tu street, Hoan Kiem district) will host a Kafka-inspired dance performanceby dancers Charlotte Spitzer and Ziga Jereb (Austria).

An international conferenceentitled Perceptions of Kafka in Asia, Particularly in Vietnam will gathermany Vietnamese and foreign experts at the Hanoi University of Social Sciencesand Humanities on April 14.

Another seminar, Franz Kafka - Life AndLegacy will analyse Kafka’s Letter to His Father, a literary masterpiece,and an important document often used by researchers to explore the relationshipbetween him and his father, which is often believed to have had a stronginfluence on his motivation to write.-VNA