Invitation to the Exhibition of Little Houses

Libeň Island is a peninsula connected to the banks of the Prague districts of Libeň and Holešovice. It used to be a real island, the largest of a group of about ten islets between Libeň and Holešovice. The present form of this area is the result of regulation from 1927-1928. At that time, the Libeň Bridge was built and the Libeň Harbor was modified. Libeň Island was connected to the Libeň shore and additionally found itself in a blind arm of the Vltava River. Since 1927, Libeň Island has been used for recreation. There are two organizations of the Czech Gardening Association, as well as sections for canoeists, water motor sports, Junák (a scouts organization), tennis and volleyball clubs, a House of Children and Youth, and other similar organizations. Before 1989, spending leisure time in cottage colonies was popular, as it was very difficult to travel abroad (especially to capitalist countries). This way of spending free time was an escape from the everyday gray reality of socialist Czechoslovakia, and people found their small piece of "private" joy here. I myself come from a family that owns a cottage (in another part of the Czech Republic). The whole family worked on it for several years, and it was typical that the building was made from various materials, mostly waste materials - metals, wood, plastics.
In 2002, Libeň Island was hit by floods, and most of the structures were damaged. However, the local people admirably overcame the despair over the loss of what they had built up over many years. Immediately after the water receded, they began cleaning the area and restoring the settlement.
The garden colony on Libeň Island still faces the threat of destruction! The settlement, which was established here in 1927, is to be transformed into a park and a natural theater with a stage on the water according to one of the projects. And the gardeners are understandably protesting. The oasis of greenery and tranquility has been created with passion by generations of enthusiasts. Today, it consists of about two hundred gardens, and for many people, the little houses in the colony have literally become their only home. Now that they have succeeded in creating their green oasis again, where they grow flowers, vegetables, and fruits, meet with their friends, organize various social and cultural events for the general public, and teach their children to recognize animals and plants in the middle of the city, politicians and officials intend to take all of this away from them. What will really happen when the gardeners have to leave? What will happen to this beautiful and well-cared-for part of the metropolis, which has a long tradition and whose history is almost eighty years old? Will this area suffer the same fate as the settlement in Hrdlořezy, which the gardeners had to leave after being evicted by the magistrate, and where everything is now devastated, with homeless people finding refuge, and people even afraid to walk there?
In the civilized world, in developed metropolises, such places are carefully protected, maintained, and supported by their inhabitants. For example, in Stockholm, Sweden, a garden colony adjoins modern residential buildings, and both areas complement each other very well, as the settlement also serves as a recreational and relaxation zone for the city's residents. The public has also become accustomed to visiting Libeň Island's gardening colony to relax, sport, and unwind.
In 2005, I began documenting this cottage colony on Libeň Island, recording it on both color and black-and-white negative material. As a result, a number of photographs emerged in a sociological-photographic spirit, where I primarily recorded the environment of the colony and the architecture of the dwellings (both reconstructed and completely abandoned), which the local residents had built here. The gardens on the island remain for now. However, their surroundings have changed. New residential buildings have emerged on both the Libeň and Holešovice sides. Perhaps there will be some kind of symbiosis here; perhaps life will continue and all parties will get used to each other........perhaps.