The airport will remove Forum Havlúm and replace it with another artwork

Prague - Prague Airport will remove the Forum Havlum installation, which commemorates quotes from Václav Havel, and replace it with a new piece of artwork. It will again be dedicated to the legacy of the first post-revolution president. The reason is the need to adapt the airport spaces to new security and operational requirements. The airport has agreed on this with the Václav Havel Library. Roman Pacvoň, the airport spokesperson, informed ČTK about this today. Forum Havlum has been in the public area of the second terminal of the airport, officially named Václav Havel Airport Prague, since 2012.

The airport is at the edge of its maximum capacity, having processed a record 16.8 million passengers last year, and expects further increases this year. "This continually places greater demands on the efficient use of the internal spaces of the terminal, and the existing Forum Havlum installation on two floors represents a significant spatial limitation to this development," said Pacvoň. Furthermore, the airport needs to adapt the spaces to new safety standards.

The Václav Havel Library was informed of these airport plans earlier. "We subsequently convinced them that it is necessary to preserve the memory and reminder of Václav Havel at the airport," said Michael Žantovský, director of the Václav Havel Library, to ČTK today.

The new artwork is to be placed again in the Terminal 2 areas, with a preliminary plan for the year 2020. Unlike the existing Forum Havlum installation, it will only involve one floor.

Work on the new project began last November when the Václav Havel Library announced a closed competition for a new installation. Seven applicants entered, with architect Petr Franta being the successful candidate.

"Currently, we are analyzing the technical and operational aspects of implementing the winning concept in detail," said Jakub Puchalský, Executive Director of Corporate and Marketing Communications at Prague Airport. After the subsequent assessment, the airport, together with the library, wants to present the form of the new installation to the public. The airport plans to proceed with the removal of the existing work only once a precise plan for the construction of the new facility is created.

Forum Havlum allows people to look into an oval space where well-known quotes from Václav Havel appear. The quotes are in both Czech and foreign languages. The artwork was created by artist and architect Bořek Šípek, with whom Havel collaborated during his time at the castle.