Ending Kinter's sculptural installation of brutalist buildings at Klárov

Prague - For just a few more days, residents and visitors of the capital can view the sculptural installation by artist Krištof Kintera at Klárov, which captures seven significant Prague buildings from the second half of the last century identified as brutalist architecture. It has been freely accessible for nearly three years, and the last chance to see it will be on Monday, August 18. After that, the small park Holubička, located between the Malostranská metro station and the Old Castle Steps, where Kintera's sculptures are placed, is set to undergo renovations.

"We extended the permission for the popular sculptural microcity due to the high interest. However, it has now officially expired, and the park Holubička will undergo revitalization in the coming years. We believe that we will return to similar projects in the future in collaboration with Prague 1," stated representatives of the nearby Kunsthalle gallery, which participated in the project, on their website.

The glowing concrete miniatures depict, for example, the Žižkov TV tower, the Kotva department store, Hotel Praha, and the Komerční banka building in Smíchov. Kintera's installations in the uneven terrain of the park surround the statue of the Girl with a Dove from 1958 by Václav Šimek.

The sculptures are intentionally partly demolished as a symbolic reminder that, for instance, Hotel Praha in Dejvice no longer exists and further demolitions - such as the Central Telecommunications Building in Žižkov - are planned.

According to Kintera, the installation aimed to show that the period of communist party rule from 1948 to the revolution in 1989 caused cultural damage on one hand, while also resulting in architecturally significant buildings of international importance. To this day, Czech society views them ambivalently and struggles to come to terms with them due to their burden of the past.

"Different scales, dramatic lighting, and the demolished parts remind us of the fluctuating popularity of these buildings, but Krištof Kintera's utopian city is primarily a clear example of strong architecture in unfree times," stated Kunsthalle gallery. A lavish publication has also been produced about the project, enriching literature on brutalist architecture in Prague with an unconventional perspective on buildings from the communist era.

Prague native Kintera studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, including in Milan Knížák's studio. He has been nominated three times for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award. He was a member of the performative theater group Jednotka. He built the experimental space NoD above the Prague club Roxy. In 2014, his breakthrough exhibition took place at the Tinguely Museum in Basel, Switzerland, and three years later, a Czech exhibition titled Nervous Trees followed at the Rudolfinum Gallery. He regularly collaborates on the artistic conception and exhibitions of the contemporary art festival 4 + 4 Days in Motion. He is the author of several installations in public spaces and, in 2009, contributed to the controversial piece Entropa, created by artist David Černý at the Brussels headquarters of the Council of the European Union on the occasion of the Czech presidency.