“Walk through the world with your eyes open”: New mural at Prague’s Letná pays tribute to Milada Horáková
A new mural has just been completed on a building along Milady Horákové Street in Prague’s Holešovice district, near Štrossmayer Square. Created by the masked street artist Toy Box, the large-scale work pays tribute to Milada Horáková, the democratic politician executed in a communist show trial in 1950. Featuring a fragmented portrait and a quote from Horáková’s final letter to her daughter, the mural was finished earlier this week.
We are standing here at the bottom of Milady Horákové Street, in front of your stunning new mural—who was the driving force behind this project?
“It first started when I was approached by the owner of the school Prague Sirens, about this building I’m painting on now. They asked me to create something themed around Milada Horáková. We discussed it a bit and I came up with several designs. My idea was to make it blend nicely with the building and its surroundings, so I matched the colours a bit. I also wanted to portray her struggle, but not in a very literal way. So I took a photograph of her, cut it into pieces to evoke the brutality of her fate, and then redrew it—repainted it—on the wall. I included a quote from her letters from prison to her daughter.”
Were you thinking about foreign visitors when you included the English quote?
“We were thinking about people passing through these streets—many of them are foreign-speaking visitors. And also, the owners of the building are foreigners too: a couple of German men and Russian women. So we wanted the mural to feel truly international. It also aims at foreign visitors to Prague, because it will include a QR code, placed in the corner of the mural. If you scan it, it leads to a webpage called Milada Horáková Mural. That site is still being worked on, but in a few weeks, my comic or illustrated story about Milada Horáková’s fate will be available there.”
Let’s talk about the artistic side of the mural. What materials are you using, and are you working on it on your own?
“I usually use spray paints when I do murals, but for this one I switched to classical brushes. The final result looks more like a traditional painting, which I really love. For me, it’s like coming home, because I was trained in classical drawing. So for this project, my main tools have been brushes—some of them really big. I also did the lettering using a calligraphy brush.
“In the portrait, I combined the figurative parts with abstract violet shapes. That choice was symbolic—Milada Horáková had deep Catholic faith her whole life, and I wanted to portray her looking toward the church at Štrossmayer Square, which is behind the building. I brought all those elements together so it would feel unified.”
Painting something this large must mean working at some serious heights. How do you feel about that part?
“Yes, it definitely does! But I have a really reliable scissor crane, which I’ve come to love. The building is more than 70 meters tall, and when I’m up there, the view of Prague is absolutely beautiful.”
Thank you very much for talking to me.
“Thanks for having me.”
