The Emil Holub Museum in Holice will be transformed by David Vávra

Holice (Pardubicko) - The Museum of Traveler Emil Holub will house the manuscript of architect David Vávra. The eccentric host of the architecture show Šumná města has a personal connection to the traveler; years ago, he traveled in Africa with a television crew following in Emil Holub's footsteps, he told journalists today.
    "Thanks to television, we had the fortune to visit Africa, which influenced me to take on this project," Vávra said.
    When he inspected the museum, he found that there was no need to change the layout of the rooms or add any new sections. The museum is adjacent to a cultural house and a gymnasium, and he appreciates the historical architectural concept.
    "I quite like that cultural area. The cultural house has solid architecture and, together with the gymnasium, forms a solid whole. We will keep the museum as it is. We had no need to inflate it like a balloon," Vávra stated.
    In the first part of the museum, Vávra proposed a lecture room with the atmosphere of the late 19th century, where lectures, theater performances, or concerts can be held. The room, separated by a portal, will connect to four sections that will showcase Holub's study, his two African journeys, the awards he received, and his wife Růžena, through whom Holice has at least part of Holub's extensive collections.
    "Furthermore, there will be an experiential section, with an African village in one corner, African nature in another, and in the middle, Victoria Falls, which will be a large glass wall," Vávra said.
    Other sections will remind visitors of Holub's successors. In the middle of the room, there will be stuffed animals. Outside the museum, a children's African village will be created. According to Kateřina Soukupová from the construction company that will carry out the modernization, it will be an exhibit using modern technologies.
    "We will preserve everything valuable, but the museum will correspond more to the 21st century. There will be three-dimensional models, mechanical models that children will be able to play with. We will use computer projections and the sounds of African nature," Soukupová said.
    The reconstruction of the museum, which will cost 21 million crowns, is expected to receive support from the European Union. Museum staff will submit the application in October, and they will find out in the spring of next year whether the project was successful. If everything goes well, the exhibition is expected to be opened to the public on April 30, 2011, said the director of the Cultural Center of the city of Holice, Vítězslav Vondrouš.