The Birth The Birth (2006) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Kristek Thaya Glyptotheque is a pilgrims’ way created by the Czech sculptor Lubo Kristek in 2005–2006. This comprehensive land art piece connects five regions of three states: the Vysočina Region, South Bohemian Region, Lower Austria South Moravian Region and the Trnava Region.
The Birth and Simultaneously Damnation of the Sphere (1978) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Tribute to the Thaya River
He linked together the sculptures – in which he achieved craft qualities and spiritual scope – in a pilgrims’ way dedicated to the Thaya River, similarly as the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana expressed his admiration for the Vltava River (Moldau) in his symphonic poem Vltava.
Tree of the Wind Harp (1992) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Natural gallery
In this natural gallery, people flow as naturally as water in a river. They bring flowers and other items to the sculptures.
The pilgrimage adds a sense of belonging to the local context.
Birth
For the first station at the source of the Moravian Thaya (near Panenská Rozsíčka), Kristek chose his lifelong symbol – the apple tree with two apples. The blue and white colours symbolize indispensable elements: water and air.
The sculpture Birth protects both the source of the river and the copy of the statuette Spring Well (Jaroslav Krechler). It also blesses the stream. The shape of the tree resembles the course of the Thaya River with its tributaries.
The Wishing Stones (2006) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
The artworks in various places fulfil a whole range of functions, from acting on the viewer in the form of preparation for the spiritual climax of the pilgrimage, to the role of a focal point indicating and emphasising the place of a spiritual, philosophical or artistic act.
The Wishing Stones
The seven boulders from which Kristek created the sculpture The Wishing Stones in Staré Hobzí come from the source of the Moravian Thaya and were a symbolic gift of Panenská Rozsíčka. The pilgrims bring their wishes on scrolls of paper and insert them in the sculpture.
Jana Přibylová at The Wishing Stones (2013)Research Institute of Communication in Art
The primaballerina emeritus of the National Ballet Brno Jana Přibylová is inserting her wish the sculpture The Wishing Stones.
Life (1971–1972) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Life
Kristek created the wooden sculpture Life at a time when he was giving intense consideration to the fate of man, his linkage with nature, and his task in history. Today, the sculpture is located by the entrance to the Drosendorf Castle (Austria).
Into the artwork, the artist incorporated phases of life from embryo, birth, the first steps accross the winding paths and cowering to the coffin that is swallowed by a snake of time at the end.
The Cosmically Timed Parapyramidal Potency
The individual stations can be perceived by walking, which creates a relationship between the places, by the pilgrim discovering them. Wandering from one station to the next gives them an additional dimension to contrast with the predominant consumer lifestyle of our society.
The Cosmically Timed Parapyramidal Potency (2005–2006) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
The pyramid is the primal hill, the mythical and holy place of birth, resurrection and eternal life linking the earth and the heavens. Sculpture The Cosmically Timed Parapyramidal Potency allows energy to be drawn. The pilgrim may climb onto its wall and merge with its surface.
Inauguration of the sculpture Cosmically Timed Parapyramidal Potency Inauguration of the sculpture Cosmically Timed Parapyramidal Potency by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
The 7-meter-high sculpture is located in Podhradí nad Dyjí. It was unveiled in a happening. At its centre, a secret meditation chamber is to be found.
Mythological Landscape No. 95 in Three Acts Mythological Landscape No. 95 in Three Acts by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Quote by Lubo Kristek
"In this materialistic era, there is a danger of deviation from the equilibrium between the intellect and nature. It is not enough just to 'manufacture' art as mere decoration. Especially today, art must be capable of waking up, engaging, attracting, and healing, if necessary."
Bird Mission (1998) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Bird Mission
Kristek’s sculptural pilgrimage is the vital linkage of his artistic and spiritual development. It reflects a desire to make a pilgrimage to spirituality. The wooden sarcophagus Bird Mission can be found in Hardegg Castle, Lower Austria.
The three-tiered sarcophagus in the shape of a bird’s skull Hardegg inspire the visitor to think about the sense of his/her own life and mortality.
Deliverance from Suffering
The ceramic sculpture Deliverance from Suffering dwells in the rock chapel in Znojmo, near Louka Monastery. Kristek established a new typology of the Crucifixion and attempted to capture relativity in the perception of the cross.
Deliverance from Suffering (1978) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
The pilgrim is the victim of an illusion - a spatial trompe l’oeil. If he stands at one angle, he sees Christ on the cross, but if he takes a step to the side, Christ is taken down from the cross. From the aspect of the ceramic sculpture, the arriving pilgrim hangs on the cross.
The Birth and Simultaneously Damnation of the Sphere (1978) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
The Birth and Simultaneously Damnation of the Sphere
The chapel with the ceramic sculpture The Birth and Simultaneously Damnation of the Sphere is located by the Jan’s Castle near Podivín in the Lednice–Valtice Cultural Landscape. Kristek has built the chapel as a "witness of the times".
Inauguration of the sculpture The Birth and Simultaneously Damnation of the Sphere Inauguration of the sculpture The Birth and Simultaneously Damnation of the Sphere by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Spiritual message
The ceramic sculpture bears deep spiritual message. It refers to inevitable demise as a result of the impetuous development, but also to indestructibility of pure energy. The sphere is the embodiment of concentrated energy and life force. The chapel was unveiled in a happening.
Tree of the Wind Harp (1992) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
Tree of the Wind Harp
The kinetic sculpture by Chateau Pohansko (near Břeclav) responds to the surrounding environment by sounds. Kristek used a fragment of a piano and combined it with iron tears to create a wind propelled assemblage. The visitor is also invited to play this unique instrument.
"From many aspects , Kristek’s free-standing sculptures represent a surreal parallel with the paintings of the Czech painter Mikuláš Medek, the German painter Max Ernst and the Spanish painter Salvador Dalí."
Barbora Půtová, Charles University
The Seekers - Organic Forms (2015) by Lubo KristekResearch Institute of Communication in Art
The Seekers – Organic Forms
The metal sculpture The Seekers – Organic Forms symbolizes the confluence of the Thaya and the Morava Rivers, where it is located. At that place (near Sekule, Slovakia), also the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria meet.
The sculpture bears the cyclical message of return and periodic regeneration of time. It also represents a challenge to turn to the future. Therefore, the sculpture becomes the objectification of the myth of eternal return.
The last station of the Kristek Thaya Glyptotheque is hidden. It is intended only for pilgrims who are willing to make the pilgrimage, to seek, to perceive and to think. This station confirms that the space of the imagination is the space of freedom. In the imagination we cross borders, we relativise time and space, and we experience possibilities that we had already lost or forgotten. It is also a space, into which human awareness and unawareness and the future enter.
