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Bold monument derides bureaucracy

Zlín businessman expresses frustrations with gov't through art

By Ondřej Bouda
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
May 14th, 2008 issue

Ondřej Bouda/The Prague Post
Radim Hrubý autographs the gilded buttocks ? his second allegorical monument to bureaucracy.
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Zlín, East Moravia
The borough of Malenovice in the city of Zlín has a new statue thanks to businessman Radim Hrubý, who has expressed his frustration with local bureaucrats through a statue called “Authorities Preach to Citizens.” Unveiled May 7, the monument represents bureaucracy as gold-painted buttocks above a citizen drowning in a pool of water.
“It’s the proverbial creek and, as you can see, there is no paddle,” said Hrubý, who is not naming any specific civil servant as the inspiration for the statue. Rather, he expects each of them to know if they are represented by it.
Hrubý, who leases the former granary in the farmyard of Malenovice Castle from the town of Zlín, has been fighting with the local bureaucracy for the past 10 years. He said he has invested millions of crowns into renovating the building and parts of the complex, in order to develop a cultural center. Several popular music events take place there every year.
Although the original castle owners, descendants of the Šternberks, began proceedings to get their property back, Hrubý had believed his work was in no danger because he had struck a preliminary deal with them that would have allowed him to continue development. However, since the restitution case went to court, uncertainty now looms over the fate of the property and no large reconstruction can take place.
The case started in 1942 and developed into complicated inheritance proceeding. The property was first seized by the Nazis, then by communists, and since 1990 the state has refused to return it to its original owners citing numerous bureaucratic impediments. Meanwhile, says Hrubý, no one has properly invested in the restoration of the buildings in 60 years. “Parts owned by the city already had to be demolished,” he said.
As the current owner of the buildings, the city has a duty to maintain the structure, Hrubý points out, but has failed to do so. “I’ve tried working with city officials, but they refuse to cooperate,” he said, adding that he is filling in for the work City Hall should be doing by revitalizing one of the few historical areas in Zlín by organizing increasingly popular annual concerts there.
Local officials were not available for comments at press time.
In the olden days
During the 1930s, a growing shoe industry needed to house its workers, so owner Tomáš Baťa built a town to service his factories. “Baťa got one planning permission and built a famous functional city within a few years. It was a great feat of engineering that was made possible by helpful civil service,” said Hrubý. He complains that such a plan would not be possible today due to the amount of red tape required, and goes as far as to say that, under communism, bureaucrats did not have as much power over citizens and were more helpful than today. “I am no communist,” he said. “But at the end of the ’80s local councils supported constructions and reconstructions by minimizing paperwork required and even subsidized many citizens.”
Unlike other unsatisfied citizens, Hrubý declines to join activist groups fighting bureaucracy, claiming they are not effective. “I am an individualist, and poking fun at the civil service fits me better,” he said.
During sleepless nights, Hrubý came up with a plan for the new monument, and convinced his friend Karel to pose for the buttocks.
“In the end, I pulled down my pants for 10 beers,” said Karel, who also came to the unveiling. “We have called the wall that it is set into the Wailing Wall and anyone is welcome to express their feelings about bureaucracy here,” said Hrubý, for whom this is not the first or last challenge to the establishment.
Four years ago, Hrubý built his first monument to bureaucracy — a bronze bell suspended between two stone pillars in the courtyard of the former farm of the Malenovice Castle. It is inscribed with the word “bureaucrat” in 30 languages. “I wanted to show that bureaucracy knows no borders,” said Hrubý. “In the past, the bell was used to alert citizens in times of danger. That’s why I chose it.”
Hrubý is already planning another monument, this time dedicated to society in general, as a symbol of modern times. “Symbols of all ideologies whether Christian, Islamic, fascist, Jewish or communist, will lie in a pile of rubble overgrown with nettles. Above this junkyard of history will be a pylon with a golden dollar symbol,” said Hrubý, who is convinced that today’s society is lacking thinkers and will be remembered for its lack of beliefs and endless drive for money.

Ondřej Bouda can be reached at news@praguepost.com


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