Brno announces an architectural and artistic competition for the design of a tombstone for Milan Kundera

Conditions and Course of the Competition

The competition is anonymous and open to all architects, sculptors, and artists who wish to participate in the creation of this significant work. Complete competition conditions have already been published on the client's profile.

Key Dates

• Deadline for submitting competition designs:
• Part 1 – model, panel, and envelope with contact details: by April 28, 2025, at 12:00 PM
• Part 2 – digital form of the design, description of the solution, documentation according to the procurement conditions, and draft contract: by April 28, 2025, at 12:00 AM

Significance of the Competition and the Location of the Tombstone

The competition follows the decision of the city of Brno to place the urns with the remains of Milan Kundera and his wife in the writer's hometown. With this step, Brno is declaring its connection to the legacy of one of its most significant natives and wants to preserve his memory in a dignified and inspiring manner.

An Opportunity for Czech Creators

This competition offers Czech architects, sculptors, and artists a unique opportunity to participate in creating a memorial that will have not only artistic but also cultural significance. The design of the winning work will be realized in a prominent location in Brno, allowing the author to underline their work with a piece that will resonate with a broad audience.

How to Get Involved?

The competition conditions can be found and downloaded at this link. Submission of designs is anonymous.

Inspiration from Kundera

Milan Kundera, author of famous works such as The Unbearable Lightness of Being or Immortal Humour, said: "The memory of humanity is the memory of its works." The tombstone should be not only a dignified place of rest but also an artistic expression of the intellectual and literary legacy. This competition connects architecture, art, and literature in a memorial that will serve present and future generations.

The competition is expected to propose a design of high artistic quality that will also respect the wishes of the Kunders for the simplicity of its solution. Kundera's authorial style was analytical, non-symbolic, expressively reduced, but not simplistically so – always aiming for an intellectual point rather than ornamental embellishment. This philosophy should also be reflected in the design of the tombstone, which will carry his legacy.