The gravestone of Milan Kundera will be created by Austrian architect Johannes Paar

Brno – The tombstone of Milan Kundera in the last available spot in the honorary circle of Brno's Central Cemetery is to be created by Austrian architect Johannes Paar from the architectural office studio Mair-Paar Büro für Architektur. This was decided today by Brno city councilors. The jury was impressed by the sense of levitation in his proposal. The tombstone appears to have detached from the ground and seems to hover slightly above it. Despite the weight of the concrete from which it is to be made, it looks light. Mayor Markéta Vaňková told reporters this today.

"The selected design has a high artistic level, meets the requirements for originality and creativity, and also, which I consider crucial, respects the wishes of the Kundera couple for simplicity and modesty in its solution. It corresponds to Milan Kundera's authorial style, which is analytical, expressionally reduced, and non-symbolic, rather than ornamental," Vaňková stated.

In the architectural and artistic competition for the tombstone of the famous writer and his wife Vera, the Brno city hall received 41 proposals, 39 of which progressed to the evaluation stage. According to the competition conditions, the selected design in the honorary circle at the central cemetery is to be completed by July 10 of next year, one day before the anniversary of Kundera's death. The maximum price is 1.25 million crowns excluding VAT.

Kundera passed away in Paris on July 11, 2023, at the age of 94. Vera Kundera passed away on September 13, 2024. The urns with their remains returned from Paris to the writer's native Brno in January. Until the grave is ready, they are stored in the Moravian Library.