The seventh edition of the Meeting Brno festival with the motto crossroads enriched the identity of and the memory of our city with significant moments of encounter that will forever transformed. Had it not been for Dr. Hugo Iltis, a doctor of biology, another one might have been forgotten of Brno: Gregor Johann Mendel, whose 200th anniversary of his birth was commemorated this year. Hugo Iltis wrote the first internationally recognized monograph on Mendel, created a valuable Mendel collection and was also behind organizing the celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Festival Meeting Brno therefore welcomed the grandson of Hugo Iltis, David Iltis, and remembered especially the anti-Nazi involvement of his grandfather.

Gregor J. Mendel was also the subject of another dramaturgical line of this year’s festival: Liechenstein is Meeting Brno. Although diplomatic relations with the Principality of Liechtenstein have so far been complicated on an official level due to the confiscation of all the property of the Liechtenstein family on the territory of the Czech Republic by the so-called Benes Decrees, there is no doubt that they have left a significant cultural heritage consisting, among other things, in the support of Gregor Mendel. We therefore welcomed Dr. Johann Kräftner, director of the Princely Collections of Liechtenstein Vaduz-Vienna.

The motto of the crossroads was also perfectly captured by the Mexican community project LOStheULTRAMAR, which brought together professional performers from Mexico, Iceland and the Czech Republic with the Bronx community.

LOStheULTRAMAR