Abstrakt
States engaged in a conflict have a difficult departure point for their public and cultural diplomacy efforts. The classic nation branding axioms about "a simple message" and "synergy" (Anholt 2006; Shenhav, Sheafer, Gabay 2010) become unrealistic in the context of a conflict for two major reasons: first, various - often antagonistic - actors and processes shape the ground that the state's cultural diplomacy is landing on (the other side of the conflict wages its war for public opinion as well; diaspora and other non-state actors often get involved - Koinova 2010; international media have a magnifying effect as to conflict imagery).
Second, the conflict is naturally reflected in the country's artistic production and thus the efforts to improve a country's image are distorted by a less optimistic note. Nevertheless, precisely the states engaged in a conflict or states with a controversial image place their hopes on soft power (Nye 1990) to help them overcome shortcomings in their international symbolic status.
The paper examines cultural diplomacy of a state in conflict on the case of Israeli cultural representation in the Czech Republic. Outlining first the environment into which the cultural diplomacy enters, including the specifics of Czech-Israeli relations, it subsequently uses several cases of Israeli artistic production in the Czech Republic (concerts of Idan Raichel, the Angelcy, Orphaned Land; dance performance of Batsheva; discussions with the film director Eran Riklis and with the writer Yishai Sarid) to demonstrate various ways how a conflict narrative can be present in a nation's representation abroad.
Finally, the paper deals with media and public framing of the given cultural events in the context of the conflict, showing how its existence changes the dynamics of cultural diplomacy.