The veterans' memorial for Ostrava was designed by sculptor Pavla Sceránková

Ostrava – In the visual-architectural competition for a veterans' memorial, which the city of Ostrava announced in March this year, sculptor Pavla Sceránková won. The city will begin negotiations with the author of the winning design on its implementation after the formal conclusion of the competition, likely in January. This was announced to journalists today by the spokesperson of the magistrate, Andrea Vojkovská.

The memorial should be complete by October next year so that it can be unveiled on Veterans Day, November 11. The winning design best fulfilled the competition's brief, said Deputy Mayor and jury member Zuzana Bajgarová (ANO).

"It is realistic, comprehensive, and at the same time pleasantly light. It appears dynamic and timeless. In terms of content, it deals with factual references, such as quotes from veterans' memories, while also using geometric motifs that do not come across as pejoratively symbolic or unnecessarily militant. The shape of the moving circles could have the strongest effect especially after dark, when the text in the perimeter will light up,” stated Bajgarová.

The city announced the competition twice; although 27 designs were received the first time, they did not meet expectations. Therefore, in the second competition, they directly approached four authors, while the same number was selected by the jury from 17 submitted portfolios. In the second round of the competition, four authors remained. "The jury evaluated their competition designs from the perspective of comprehensive, ideological, and visual-architectural quality, as well as their location in the park, which is an important landscape element. They were also interested in the economy and economic appropriateness of the chosen solution, durability, and resilience,” the spokesperson said.

The winner of the competition, a 40-year-old visual artist, is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, and has also studied at art universities in Hungary, Germany, Canada, and Scotland.

"The memorial will commemorate Czech, respectively Czechoslovak veterans as a whole and their representatives across generations, namely legionnaires - soldiers at the founding of the Czech Republic, World War II veterans - Czechoslovak soldiers and resistance fighters fighting on the fronts of World War II and operating in both domestic and foreign resistance, as well as modern veterans - members of the Czech Armed Forces who participate in foreign missions," said former director of the Regional Military Command in Ostrava, Jaroslav Hrabec, who helped initiate the creation of the memorial.

The costs for the creation of the work should not exceed 3.5 million CZK.

The park Čs. letců, where the memorial will be located, is primarily planted with mature greenery, and the surrounding buildings consist of residential houses and administrative structures. It is heavily used especially by local residents. The park was renovated in 2018.