In the Zlín skyscraper, an exhibition about the business of the Baťa company was created

Zlín - The bust of the founder of the shoe empire Tomáš Baťa (1876 - 1932) has today, after decades, returned to the Baťa skyscraper in Zlín, which served as the headquarters of the shoe conglomerate during the First Republic. The building now houses the regional and financial office. The exhibition was created in the reconstructed eighth floor, which used to be the management floor of the Baťa company. The exhibition brings closer all the important Baťa collaborators to the people. The ceremonial unveiling of the bust was conducted not only by the governor of the Zlín Region Libor Lukáš but also by the descendant of the famous entrepreneur Tomáš Baťa junior.
    In the exhibition, visitors will learn not only about the work of Tomáš Baťa but also about his successor Jan Antonín Baťa and other people who participated in the development of Baťa factories. Among them were Dominik Čipera, Hugo Vavrečka, Josef Hlavnička, František Malota, and Siegfried Meisel. The second part of the exhibition also recalls the results of their management system. In addition to the growth of Zlín and the global trade network of Baťa, it particularly highlighted the Zlín satellite towns in several countries around the world.
    "For me, it is moving; I knew this bust and that man (Tomáš Baťa) very well. But I also came because this honors his collaborators, who are talked about less. He (Tomáš Baťa) had good collaborators around him, who could continue his vision when he left," said Baťa to journalists after the ceremonial unveiling.
    The bust, based on the original created by František Lydie Gahura, was made by sculptor Radim Hanke. The statue stood in the management floor until nationalization. The socialist era in the floor is remembered by marble plaques with etched information about the nationalization of the Baťa company and its transformation into the Svit company.
    The reinstatement of the bust of Tomáš Baťa and the opening of the exhibition is considered by the governor of the Zlín Region as a conclusion to the reconstruction of the skyscraper and a repayment of a certain debt to this building and the Baťa legacy. Therefore, the exhibition is preserved in its original form and spirit. "We wanted to make just a teaser of what was here. We were not looking for anything new," noted the governor, adding that the authors of the exhibition primarily sought a new form in period photographs documenting the architecture of that time and the representation of architect Karfík.
    Currently, the eighth floor houses the management of the Financial Office in Zlín, which is located in the building alongside the regional government and its office. Therefore, visitors will only be able to view the exhibition during the opening hours of this institution.