The association announced a collection for the creation of a statue of Václav Havel

Prague - The public fundraising campaign, which will finance a life-sized statue of Václav Havel, was announced today by the Society for the Construction of the Václav Havel Statue. The campaign will start on November 17. Its initiators would like to place the bronze sculpture of the playwright and former president in a public space. As representatives of the society said to journalists today, they do not have a location yet. The author of the statue is Barbora Daušová, who exhibited her model last year in the Prague café Slavia.
     The society is reportedly considering Petřín in Prague, Havelín Hill in Prague-Zbraslav, the Franciscan Garden in Prague, or a clearing near Hrádeček, where Havel used to go to his cottage. "We would like to place the statue in a public space, without a pedestal, so that people can approach it. We also talked about Petřín, mainly because there is a lot of space there," the sculptor said today.
     Representatives of the society emphasize that the statue was created without any political commission. "We wanted a civil statue, not a statue of a politician, but of a citizen," said the founder of the society, Petr Dauš. The society was established four months ago, but the statue was already created last year as a project by Daušová in Jiří Beránek's studio at the West Bohemian University in Plzeň.
     According to the society's plans, it should be cast in bronze, for which approximately 150,000 crowns need to be gathered. "The statue will receive a patina in the color of natural paper to emphasize its civility," said the author. The figure has a jacket over its shoulder, on which excerpts from the play Leaving will be represented in relief. According to Dauš, the society has not yet negotiated with any politicians or officials. "We need three things: a change of the zoning plan, permission from the heritage conservators, and a building permit; we will have to discuss that with them," noted Dauš.
     According to Dauš, the authors of the idea already approached the Václav Havel Library in January with their intention, and they reportedly discussed it with its representatives as well. "We also contacted Dagmar Havlová and Václav Havel's brother in writing; there was no negative response anywhere," said Dauš without further details. The sculptor stated that she informed Havel directly about her intention.
     According to the author, she wanted to pay tribute to Havel by creating the statue. She never met him personally and created the statue based on photographs. The freestanding figure holds a jacket in one hand, draped over the shoulder, and in the other hand, sheets with a fragment of his work. The head is slightly oversized compared to the rest of the figure; according to the author, it is intentional to emphasize his significance as a thinker.