Many remember Zoubek's studio as a gateway to another world

Prague - Joint meetings, conspiratorial gatherings, and creative debates under the watch of dozens of typical slender figures took place in the backyard of one of the houses near Charles Square over the past decades. In the yard is the studio of the sculptor Olbram Zoubek, which was not only a space for creating his sculptures but also a meeting place for many people.
Younger artists came here for inspiration or advice, many others were drawn to the art but also the opportunity to openly discuss not just art but anything - even though the then-State Security supposedly knew about these meetings according to the participants.
Zoubek, who has been creating in the studio for several decades, will celebrate his 80th birthday on April 21.
"In the 70s and 80s, it was the site of numerous dissident activities, where people from a broader circle opposing literature, theater, and visual arts would gather," said art historian Jiří Šetlík to ČTK. Zoubek became known among the wider public after he created the death mask of Jan Palach. In his studio, he kept plaster casts of the tombstones of Palach and his follower Jan Zajíc, whose originals were destroyed by State Security. According to Šetlík, the StB was aware of the meetings in the studio. "During the interrogation, they asked me about it, but as far as I know, they never intervened directly. However, they always bothered Olbram," says the historian.
Writer Ludvík Vaculík, director Jan Kačer, as well as architects from Brno, such as Ivan Ruller, sculptors Vladimír and Věra Janoušková, painter Čestmír Kafka, Sergej Machonin, Jindřich Chalupecký, and Václav Havel came through the passage into the yard and then through a low gate between the sculptures. They were completely random gatherings - in the sense that there was no regularity to them. "Usually, something was being put together, some manifesto or stance on something that happened," recalls Šetlík. After Chalupecký's death, Šetlík, along with Havel, Theodor Pištěk, and Jiří Kolář, founded an award bearing the name of the famous critic, highlighting young Czech artists.
Other visits to the studio had a somewhat less conspiratorial character. Director Václav Křístek was attracted by the romantic atmosphere of the New Town courtyard. Along with Křístek, one of the most significant contemporary graphic designers, Robert V. Novák, also visited Zoubek's studio. "At that time, he was filming some kind of documentary there. It was completely natural for me to come with someone who knew Olbram Zoubek. That’s how I got my hands on the samizdat Lidové noviny, which I then came to read a few more times," Novák told ČTK.
"During 'totalitarian times,' there were such peculiar nooks in the city. One would walk down the street and suddenly seem to open the door to the thirteenth chamber, enter through the gate into the passage, walk into the courtyard, and find oneself in another world," Křístek told ČTK. He noted that a similar atmosphere could be found in the studio of sculptor Aleš Veselý.
"We were at Olbram Zoubek's in the fall; the sculptures were in the yard among the trees - the installation of his sculptures there seemed to me the most enchanting," recalls Křístek. He believes that artists who were not part of the officially promoted ones during the communist regime were very grateful for even the slightest interest in their work. "They were welcoming and attentive to those who showed interest in them - even if they came off the street," he says.
Zoubek's sculptures, now very well-known for their typical silhouettes, will be exhibited throughout April and May at Ovocný trh in Prague to mark the author's birthday.