<Book on normalization plasticity won an award in an international competition>

Prague - The book by Czech authors Aliens and Herons received an honorary mention in the Schönste Bücher aus aller Welt competition, which has been awarding books with the best artistic design for over 50 years, making it the international equivalent of the domestic award for the Most Beautiful Czech Book of the Year. Martin Souček, whose publishing house Arbor vitae published the book, informed ČTK. The publication Aliens and Herons documents the plastic art in public spaces in Czechoslovakia during the 1970s and 1980s and has already won several awards at home - last year, for instance, in the mentioned competition.
    The extensive publication was compiled by a collective of authors with editor Pavel Karous; the book is the culmination of his six years of research. It divides normalization sculptures according to the nicknames given to them by folklore. For example, the girl sitting in a squat was referred to by people as Lost the Keys. In the streets, one can encounter the Hip Bone of a Mammoth, Triffids, or Aliens.
    Some see the last-mentioned creature in the eggs, originally intended as a symbol of fertile communist strength and creativity. The titular Herons then depict aquatic birds cleverly combined with pools, water tanks, and fountains. However, according to Karous, the Herons had a dual meaning - they were able to distract attention from the bolder parts of the plastic art that could not have passed on its own.
    The book returns to a time when the artistic decoration of architecture, like construction, was subject to central planning, and budgets for new buildings had to include sums for artistic works. Statues flooded public spaces, works of various qualities and levels were created, and almost every communist party vetted artist contributed to their creation. However, exceptional realizations in terms of quality and modern conception were also created by artists who were banned, often under different names or in bizarre circumstances, the publisher of the book notes.
    After 1989, many sculptures were destroyed, and others are neglected. Out of love for art and interest in the period they did not experience, various civil initiatives are trying to save the sculptures in public spaces and analyze the conditions under which they were created. Pavel Karous states that only in Prague between 1970 and 1990, 1500 sculptures were created. In contrast, only 56 sculptures emerged from similar competitions after 1990.
    "Arbor vitae has always strived to create conditions for creation and thus facilitate the emergence of necessary, and thus exceptional, books, regardless of whether society places weight on the topics at that moment. Aliens and Herons capture hundreds of sculptures that are disappearing before our eyes. The international jury appreciated the connection of form with content, a basic attribute of a good book. We are very pleased," Souček says regarding the award.