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October 5, 2026, marks the 90th anniversary of Václav Havel’s birth. The nEUROPA Gallery of Kultur Aktiv e.V. is marking this anniversary with an exhibition and accompanying program to honor this pioneer of democracy and human rights in East Central Europe—a staunch European who, as president, also vigorously championed German-Czech reconciliation.

Photographer Bohdan Holomíček (born 1943) met Václav Havel on May 4, 1975, in Hrádeček and photographed him there for the first time. Havel liked the photos, and a friendship developed, along with a deep bond of trust between Bohdan Holomíček, Václav Havel, and Havel’s wife, Olga. Thus, Holomíček became the visual chronicler of Havel’s activities, particularly at his private estate in Hrádeček at the foot of the Giant Mountains. There, he witnessed and documented Havel’s meetings with theater people, writers, musicians, and dissidents, as well as their artistic and political engagement with the conditions of real socialism in Czechoslovakia.

Holomíček remained Havel’s loyal companion, even after Havel was elected President of Czechoslovakia on December 29, 1989, as the Civic Forum’s candidate. Bohdan Holomíček took the last photographs of Václav Havel in 2011, one week before his death. Through his photographs, he documented the rehearsals for Havel’s latest play, “Asanace” (Eng.: Renewal/Renovation), a production the author himself was unable to see performed.

Bohdan Holomíček’s photographs are characterized by closeness and a strong sense of intimacy. They reveal far more of Havel’s human greatness than official tributes ever could. The photographer does not see Havel primarily as a dissident, writer, or president. Holomíček portrays Václav Havel as a human being.

This exhibition is sponsored by the Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden. The “Galerie nEUROPA” project is funded by the Saxon State Ministry for Social Affairs, Health, and Social Cohesion. This initiative is co-financed with tax revenues based on the budget adopted by the Saxon State Parliament as part of the “Wir für Sachsen” funding program.