Líšeňský profil
| Title in English | Líšeňský Profile |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Líšeň, once a village, has become one of Brno’s larger neighborhoods over the years. A new housing development has radically changed the face and spirit of the old place, though. Líšeň’s old square no longer serves as a natural meeting place and has become a thoroughfare instead due to the new design of roads in the area. This state of affairs made me try to find Líšeň’s new face and draw the attention of locals back to the heart of the neighborhood. In the course of 2009, I invited 511 artists from all over the Czech Republic, without any restrictions regarding age, sex or education, and asked them to look for the profile of a human face in the town’s skyline. After creating the drawing, their task was to turn it 90 degrees and find a person in Líšeň whose silhouette resembled the drawing as much as possible. All the 511 pen-and-ink drawings were included in a workbook that was distributed to all the families living in Líšeň. Their task then was to choose the profile that best captured the center of the neighbourhod. More than 2,000 people participated and finally voted on the winner, whose name was announced in a ceremony at town hallin April. Hidden in the drawing made by Hynek Poul, it turns out, was the face of one Josef Šedý. Šedý became the protagonist of a book titled Your Name is Josef Šedý written by writer and journalist Aleš Palán. The book, which would become the key moment of the whole process, maps out Šedý’s life and activities, which – following the announcement of the results of the vote – would serve to present him in such a way that he might become the personification of the place where he lived. Through him – and through the book – the inhabitants of Líšeň would be able to see their home in a new light. (Kateřina Šedá, 2012) |