The corner in front of the Liberec City Hall will be occupied by Little Martian Jaroslav Róna

Liberec - The corner in front of the Liberec City Hall will again be occupied by a statue after a long time. At the location that was adorned four years ago by the famous Chair by Magdalena Jetelová and then the Sparrows by Martina Klouzová Niubó, the Little Martian by Jaroslav Róna will take its place on Wednesday. For the people of Liberec, the figure of the weeping Martian is nothing new; during the skiing championship, it dominated the space in front of the Liberec library. The statue became the most popular among the sculptures displayed as part of the Sculpture Forum Winter 2008-2009 project, said Ivona Rajmanová, director of the Spacium company that organized the exhibition.
This is why, according to Rajmanová, the idea was born to keep the Little Martian in Liberec. "We thought it would be a shame to lose this sculpture," noted the director, adding that the idea came to place the 170-centimeter-high bronze sculpture of a sitting boy near the sci-fi architecture of the famous hotel and transmitter tower Ještěd. "The statue will indeed be moved there, but only in July on the occasion of the traditional Ještěd Celebrations; until then, it will be in the square," added Rajmanová.
The Martian is not the first Róna sculpture in Liberec. Just a few steps from the city hall, since last November, the paved courtyard between the square and Plaza center has been illuminated by his statue Edison, which also serves as a functional lamp. Painter, sculptor, amateur actor, and writer Róna has a connection to Liberec; in 1987, he was one of the founders of the artistic group Tvrdohlaví, which met right in Liberec. He is the author of the monument to Franz Kafka, which was unveiled in 2003 in Prague's Old Town. Two years ago, he realized the sculpture David and Goliath in Cheb. His works are owned by leading world galleries.
The history of the creation of the Little Martian is quite complicated according to the author. "Before I made the sculpture, I painted a picture with this theme. I was inspired by a photograph of an embryo that caught my eyes," noted the artist. Later, he found a photograph of Venus with hot lava and came up with the idea to paint a creature that lives in an environment completely unacceptable for humans, but moves there absolutely naturally. "Thus, a story was created about a child from another planet - a kind of little Martian who is crying because he got lost," added Róna. Following the painterly version came the sculpture.
Róna's sculptures are not the first similar endeavors in the streets of Liberec. The Spacium company, founded nine years ago, is striving for Liberec to become a city of sculptures, where visual art will be an integral part of life. Liberec has already received the Ball by Milan Houser, which adorns the area near the Zlatý lev hotel. From the bus stop by the library has come the so-called Breakfast of Giants by David Černý, and at the tram stop near the Lípa cinema, there is a bench called Eternal Tenderness by Lukáš Rittstein. Thanks to Spacium, restorers have also returned the original shine and beauty to a pair of sculptures - the Dream Gate by Eva Kmentová and Butterfly Wings by Jiří Novák, which have adorned the small park opposite the North Bohemian Museum for over 30 years.