The Club for Old Prague is against the placement of moving butterfly sculptures at the Shopping Center Máj

Prague - The civic association Club for Old Prague is against the proposal to place large moving butterfly sculptures on the Máj department store in Prague. According to them, it is an example of typical kitsch. The association stated this in a statement on its Facebook. The developer Amadeus Real, which owns the monument-protected building, does not wish to comment on the matter before the completion of the reconstruction in May.

According to information from the civic association, there should be two several-meter-high moving butterfly sculptures on the facade of the building at the corner of Spálené and Národní streets, whose bodies will resemble Spitfire fighter planes. The work is thus intended to be a tribute to Czechoslovak pilots fighting in World War II.

"Amadeus Real Estate, as the owner and investor of the reconstruction of the OD Máj, will publish details concerning the final form of the interiors and exteriors of the building, as well as detailed representation of services and stores, as part of the planned opening schedule, expected in May 2024. We do not want to comment on any backstage information for now," said Amadeus Real spokesman Karel Samec to ČTK.

According to the club, the Department of Heritage Care of the Prague City Hall approved the plan, despite the fact that the National Heritage Institute rejected the sculptures. The department director Jiří Skalický stated that the proceedings are not public and are not concluded, so he cannot provide any details.

The Club for Old Prague stated in a release that the proposal shows signs of typical kitsch. "The blatantly appealing motif of butterflies, whose large wings aim to fascinate viewers with their movement, alongside the attempt to evoke emotion through a tribute to the memory of Czechoslovak pilots. However, we perceive this idea as a purely opportunistic defense against criticism or disfavor from approval bodies," reads the statement.

The plan is also accompanied by ambiguities regarding the authorship of the sculptures. According to the civic association, the design of the moving butterflies has been linked from the beginning to the artist David Černý. However, he denied authorship to Seznam Zprávy denied. "The strange authorship or non-authorship of David Černý casts another shadow over the entire plan and raises inevitable questions. Is it just childish one-upmanship? Shouldn't the butterflies on Máj merely be a response to the successful Kafka head at the neighboring competing Quadrio? Why does David Černý not claim the work, although it was initially verifiably associated with him?" wrote representatives of the club.

The Club for Old Prague is a non-political civic association that has been dedicated to the protection of monuments in Prague since its founding in 1900. The club monitors the transformations of the city, commenting on individual renovations or new constructions in Prague.

The department store at the corner of Spálené and Národní was built on the site of the neo-Gothic Šlik Palace according to the design of Miroslav Masák, John Eisler, and Martin Rajniš from the Liberec studio SIAL, which was founded in 1968 by the author of the Ještěd transmitter Karel Hubáček. Máj opened to customers on April 21, 1975. In 2006, the Ministry of Culture declared the building a cultural monument. The building has been under reconstruction since May 2022, with the developer estimating the total repair costs at four billion crowns a year ago.