Veronika Zapletalová: Piveček Forest Park

Czech
40 pages, 24 x 34 cm
Photographs: Veronika Zapletalová
Translation: Jan and Alex Pivečkovi (German)
Translation: Daniel Ziss (English)
Translation: Helena Dušková, Malka Jakubowicz, Emilie Djiboghlian (French)
Scanning, photo editing, typesetting from Dynamo Grotesk font and preparation for print: DIVUS GRAFIKA [Blanka Brixová, Radka Johanidesová, Ivan Mečl, Jakub Němeček]
Printing: UNITISKIn Prague in 2000 published by ČSOP Zálesí in cooperation with Divus Publishing House
ISBN 80-86450-00-7
The author of the seven wolves is Stanislava Konvalinková,the author of the snake, the snail, the snail, the pipistrelle, the photographs and the book is Veronika Zapletalová

The book is a subjective view of what happens in the forest.

Thanks to all who helped me with the book. They are especially: Zdena Almerová, Jiří Bárta, Helena Dušková, Boženka Filáková, Robert Gall, Malka Jakubowicz, Oldřich Karban (for his work with the saw), Otakar Karlas, Zdenek Kutra, Zdenek Miklas, Alex Pivečka, Jan Pivečka, Václav Podestát, Martin Raudenský, my parents, Radek Studenka, Jindřich Štreit, Daniel Ziss

In one of their forests on the outskirts of the town of Slavičín in southeastern Moravia, the Piveček family of shoemakers established a park in 1939. It was to be a memorial to Mrs. Josefa, wife of Jan and mother of Jan and Zdeněk Piveček. In addition to a playground for children, the park had a magic house, a pond, a wolf and several dwarfs with Little Red Riding Hood. The park was popular among children and adults until the late 1960s. The people of Slavičín used to relax and recuperate there while their children played on the playground. In later years, the forest park became deserted and deserted, until the forest under the old name of ‘Pod Obruby’ was created again in its place.
At the beginning of 1990, Jan Pivečka, the younger son of the Pivečka family, returned to his hometown after 44 years in the world. He decides to stay here and finds new friends among the local conservationists of the ‘Zálesí’ nature reserve. Talking with them, the idea of rebuilding the ‘Pod Obruby’ park is born. Members of the local sculpture symposium, Kurt Gebauer, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, and his students, as well as the town of Slavičín, are involved in the design of the park. The acquisition of materials and the landscaping of the site would not have been possible without the help of the city administration, the Via Foundation, the Partnership Foundation, the Jan Pivečka Foundation and the Foundation for the Development of Civil Society. The Park Association, the fire brigade, volunteers, students, artists, neighbours, day trippers and random passers-by helped with the work in the park.
Gradually, the park in the forest above Slavičín was transformed into a magical meeting place for different people, united by serious play and the joy of rebuilding the park. The forest park is a place of dreams, where people create something new for themselves and their children.Veronika Zapletalová's photographs show the park in 1998-1999. Seven wolves made of oak wood by Stáňa Konvalinková. The author of the photographs is also the creator of a snake, a snail, a snail, a pipistrelle and a seal. The bridge over the pond was carved by Marek Borsanyi. Lenka Klodová and Marek Rejent designed the benches and Marek Rejent placed his wooden plates with animals in the park for a while. The condor was carved by Klaus Dobrunz. The as yet unnamed sandstone sculpture is the work of the well-known sculptor Mario Kotrba. Local materials were used for the work, massive oak and beech trees that were not felled but fell under the wind and their own weight.This book, like the park itself, is a work in progress. It is not intended to show the park as a closed work, but the idea behind its creation and its importance to the people who meet in it and work together to bring it to life in their own way. The book thus opens up a view of a space in which people from Slavičín and elsewhere can realise themselves in confrontation with their environment.
On the occasion of Jan Pivečka's 80th birthday, the park was renamed ‘Pivečka's Forest Park’ in 1999.