Figure Collection
Collection of figures of historically significant personalities of Štramberk
The exhibition is located on the upper floor of the Information Centre Relax in the Beskydy Foothills, house no. 40 on the Štramberk square, where the life-sized Jesuit Tanner standing deep in though in his castle chamber, inspired Jaroněk with his palette, excited archaeologist Maška in the Šipka Cave and Dr. Hrstka leaning over a model of Štramberk had the chance to meet under one roof. The names of these personalities have been indelibly inscribed into the history of Štramberk.
The exhibition of these latex figures, resembling wax figures, offers a creative, dramatic and charming insight both into the dark medieval ages as well as the picturesque Art Nouveau period. The figure collection will definitely capture the attention of every passer-by – children as well as adults.
This permanent exhibition comprises altogether five individual scenes. Each of them has been based on its own unique conception. The first one evokes the atmosphere of the merciless battle with Tartars under Kotouč Hill. Even though made of latex the figure of a Tartar looks undoubtedly as sinister as the original the distant past. The author of painted images and scenes from Štramberk and its surroundings is Josef Odráška, a painter, printmaker and pedagogue from Ostrava.
After moving on to another section of the exhibition your eyes will rest on the solemn face of the Jesuit provincial Matěj Tanner who is just about to write another line of his treatise. It might be a history of the Mount of Olives, or a translation of the Difficult Judgement? You can also watch the story of the Art Nouveau painter Bohumír Jaroněk unfold as he is standing surrounded by his wood engravings in front of an uncompleted painting which is never to be finished … other of his originals are displayed in the nearby Jaroněk Gallery.
The figure collection also introduces the distinguished
natural-historian Adolf Hrstka whose ideas and dreams were mainly concerned with
alterations of the Štramberk castle. A detailed exploration of a town model
and a copy of the reconstruction plan of the Štramberk castle of 1904, which
also form a part of the exhibition, will show you to what extent the revived
ideas of this tireless promoter of Štramberk have been implemented.
The figure collection also evokes the moment when a crucial archaeological finding was made by the teacher Karel Jaroslav Maška. His latex image is portrayed at the very moment when he found the mandible of a Neanderthal child of a size which exceeds the original world-wide recognized finding. The exhibition’s rarity is an exhibit based on an original mammoth molar.
The technology of production of latex using forms is commonly utilized in all major film studios. The figures displayed in Štramberk were created in the famous Barrandov film studio, by Tomáš Kuchta, a professional wardrobe master – who repeatedly worked also for Hollywood film studios.
