Zlín's Zikmund Villa will open to the public, with the first tours in September

Zlín - The Zlin Zikmund Villa, where traveler Miroslav Zikmund lived for many years, will open to the public. The first tours will take place this September, said Čestmír Vančura, the chairman of the Zikmund Villa Foundation, to reporters today. Zikmund had previously offered the villa, which is a cultural monument, for sale to Zlin entrepreneur Vančura, who accepted the offer. He became the chairman of the foundation, which has been taking care of the property since last year. Zikmund passed away on December 1st last year at the age of 102.

"Miroslav Zikmund considered it his life’s mission to open the world to people. And our task now is to reciprocate by opening his house to the world. Thanks to the support from the EEA Grants, we can realize this step already this year, and moreover in cooperation with renowned partners,” Vančura stated.

The foundation received 3.5 million crowns from the EEA Grants, which involve Norway, Liechtenstein, and Iceland. The Norwegian Kon-Tiki Museum and the Zlin Technological Innovation Center are partners in the project. The project concerns a cultural program and the public accessibility of the monument, which started in May this year and will last until April 2024. "People will be able to get acquainted with the home of Miroslav Zikmund, but also with the personality of Thor Heyerdahl, whose legacy is cared for by our partner, the Kon-Tiki Museum. I believe that Mirek would be pleased with this community,” Vančura said.

In the Zikmund Villa, which attracts fans of travel and architects alike, guided tours will be held. "As part of the pilot operation, we plan to have one tour day per month, during which up to four groups of six visitors will alternate in the villa. Entry will be possible, as in the Tugendhat Villa, only with prior reservation,” said Magdaléna Hladká, director of the Zikmund Villa Foundation. A large interest in the tours is expected, as many people are already interested in the villa. However, according to Vančura, even with Zikmund’s wishes in mind, the goal is not to turn the villa into a center for mass visits. "We want to preserve the intimacy of the environment,” Vančura mentioned. People will be able to see the social spaces of the house, though they will likely only glimpse some personal spaces on the upper floor, such as the study.

According to Hladká, the purpose of the project is to test the operational regime of the villa, as well as its economic and personnel demands. "Based on these experiences, after the project is completed, we will be able to determine the operational model of the villa for the future,” Hladká stated. Talks in the villa are also planned; the subsidies will help stabilize operations, maintenance, and promotion of the villa. They will also contribute to the management of the collection from Zikmund's travels that he had in the villa. Thanks to the Technological Innovation Center, people with reduced mobility will also be able to visit the villa through virtual reality. Two exhibitions will be created in cooperation with the Kon-Tiki Museum; people will view the exhibition about Jiří Hanzelka and Zikmund in Norway, while the exhibition about Heyerdahl will be in the Zikmund Villa.

Hanzelka and Zikmund are connected to the Norwegian traveler Heyerdahl through the year 1947, when Hanzelka and Zikmund embarked on their expedition to Africa and South America, and Heyerdahl launched the Kon-Tiki expedition. "Both expeditions had a common secondary goal: to bring people together by sharing stories from their travels,” stated Liv Heyerdahl, the granddaughter of traveler Heyerdahl and director of the Kon-Tiki Museum. "It is an honor for us to start cooperation and friendship with the Zikmund Villa Foundation. We will share our stories with our communities and bring people closer together. Let the journey begin," Heyerdahl concluded.