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At a Long Last
Even the City of Prague has a statue of Jaroslav Hašek |
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After Karel Nepraš
passed away, his daughter Karolína
Neprašová finished the work on the bust. Together with
architect Milan Kupka she managed to carry out the sculptor's intent and
have the memorial erected in the Prokop's Square in the Žižkov
neighborhood.
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Photo © Jan Kliment |
| Jaroslav Hašek is said to
never have ridden a horse. As a Deputy Commissar of the Red Army in
Bugulma, he is said to have used a horse-drawn buggy as the means of
transporting himself around his jurisdiction. Before World War One and
after he returned from Russia Hašek spent a lot of time at tables:
writing, drinking, observing, talking to others. Perhaps that is why the
first equestrian statue of him could be mistaken for a memorial to a
tavern cousin of the quintessential desk jockey ... The horse resembles a
chess piece more than a living stallion, and the "buffet"-style,
i.e. Prague bistro-style table top at the horse's sides ... one could
easily rest his stein full of Czech liquid bread, a.k.a. the best beer in
the world on it, while chatting with friends.
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Photo © Jan Kliment
What you cannot see in the two photographs above is the
importance of the Jaroslav Hašek's equestrian sculpture's
topography. Come back soon to find out the connection between it, Mt.
Rushmore, and the Lenin Mausoleum. (The clue is in the image below.)
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Photo © Ludvik
Hess
Who says there's no
progress! |
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Photo © Jan Kliment |
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There are some who opposed the idea of erecting the memorial. A Czech citizen, Stanislav Jíra of Prague, protests in the streets in
broad daylight, doesn't get arrested, fired from the job, nor get whacked
even once with the Beating Heart of the [Communist] Party, a.k.a.
policeman's truncheon. Well, the Communist Party is not officially running
everything anymore. Mr. Jíra's poster poses the question: "A
Memorial To A Bolshevik Commissar?"
Beneath the title is a
list of the author's sins, such as having joined
the Red Army and having been it's [Deputy] Commissar of the town of
Bugulma. The protestor, Mr. Jíra, told a representative of Brixen, a
regional branch of the Czech Press Club: "On my own behalf I want to express that
as an author, maybe, but as a man Jaroslav Hašek does not deserve any memorial." Our correspondent says Jíra was
the lone protestor in the crowd of people who reacted to the idea behind
the statue authored by Karel Nepraš, expressing irony and hyperbole, the
same way the world reacts to Jaroslav Hašek's work. |
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Now that the crowd is
gone ... |
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Photo © Josef
Žák |
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... come and take a
closer look: |
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Photo © Josef
Žák
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The signature of Karel Nepraš, the sculptor.
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