It's been a while since my last post exploring Prague so I thought I'd give this another shot presenting a place that personally I was looking forward to meet other than virtually through the little screen of my phone while seeing pictures shared on the internet.
The desire to make my way to Idiom Installation also came from yet another passion of mine that I bet not many on here know about, namely, the love for books and reading in general.
It's true that being an adult doesn't let that much space for reading on a daily routine as it happened when in school or at college, but since I was a kid I discovered this passion which more or less was encouraged by both my parents and other family members, all of them reading a lot of books of all kinds.
We actually had in plan to see the Idiom Installation a lot earlier during our stay in Prague but due to some unknown local holidays, we noticed the library was closed in two different days when we tried to enter it and see the installation which is placed inside of it.
So we ended up seeing this one on the last day of our trip just a couple of hours before our flight which made us get there with all the luggage we had looking perhaps as some weirdors, lol.
But beyond how we looked, I really wanted to see Idiom and I was totally fine with any efforts this required from me especially that sitting in a queue for around 2 hours with a heavy backpack and under 33°C was not fun at all.
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The installation was originally displayed at the Sao Paulo International Biennial in Brazil in 1995, but found a new and permanent home in the entrance hall of the Czech library in 1998.
I even spotted a little sticker with Bitcoin on the wall next to the main entrance which even though I have no idea if it's linked with the library in one way or another, did bring a smile to the corner of my mouth thinking that I was becoming for a couple of days part of a world and country that is a lot more prepared and interested in this kind of future than my country will never be.
I usually don't mind waiting in the queue as it makes me appreciate the ending a lot more than I would do on a normal day, but based on the efforts I needed to make and which I mentioned above, the wait felt a lot longer and exhausting than I thought it would be.
Happily, there were quite a few things to catch my attention and steal me for a few moments from reality, staring at the little details of the library which looked absolutely amazing even though it wasn't the largest one in town. But happily, we've been there too and a post from the Czech National Library will come sooner or later.
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Obviously, the longest wait felt until we started seeing the book tower from the distance because once we did so, the time felt like flying afterward.
From what I understood there is no chance to enter the library and see the installation waiting less than 30 minutes in the queue, but while 30 mins is a decent period of waiting, I feel like anything that lasts longer than that makes things take a different twist.
From my perspective, while the desire and curiosity was still there even when finally meeting the tower, knowing that there is a long queue behind me and all those people were getting through the same moods and emotions I did, made me rush things, taking pictures very quick and not admiring the installation as much as planned.
Happily, being a group of five girls, earned me some extra time watching and admiring the tower from all its angles both during my time checking it out and also during their time around it.
If I was checking it on my own, then most likely in a maximum of 1-2 minutes I'd already be gone, with my phone full of pictures but way too little real eye contact making sure that I'll remember the installation with my heart too, and not only when virtully seeing the pictures.
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Idiom Installation shorly known just under the name of Idiom, is a long-term art installation where thousands of books are stacked in a cylindrical tower making it like one of those portals that book lovers would love stepping in and not ever returning.
There is a total of approx 8,000 different books composing it which even if seems like a common installation that doesn't require lots of effort building it up, could only be born from a creative mind like that of Matej Kren who's behind the whole thing. Every single book was either donated or saved from being thrown away.
At first, we thought that these are stick to each other to avoid falling in case of a disaster, but based on the two or three informative panels placed both inside and outside the building, it's been very clearly said that people should avoid touching any of the books or even trying to pull out one as I've seen many joking around thinking that they are more cool than the others.
In reality, the books aren't linked other than being placed on top of each other and creating some sort of balance since the books don't share the same number of pages. What I loved even more though, was seeing so much diversity among these, spotting books from medicine, history, politics, and what not.
Basically a giant worm composed of books that represents a real nightmare for book lovers that are not able to read any of these if they wanted to, lol.
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If you thought this post is over, then bear with me a bit longer as the most interesting part of Idiom is only now. Namely, the possibility of getting half of your body inside of the tower and get yourself lost in an embrace completely formed of books that looks like the definition of infinity.
The infinite effect is given by the mirrors placed both on the ground and on the ceiling which creates one of those incredible effects quite simple and easy. And the tear-shaped opening on one side of the tower allows visitors to peek in and experience what it would be like to drown in a book vortex. Yet another experience that I bet many book lovers would enjoy especially during these crazy periods of being alive.
Happily, the author behind this installation has a few more book themed projects around the world, so make sure to check all his arts because one of them might be closer to you than you realize. But until then, the Idiom Installation from Prague remains a more recent landmark of the city which gathers more and more tourists with each passing year.
The complete address of the Idiom Installation of Prague is Mariánské nám. 98/1, 110 00 Josefov, Czechia and for a better understanding, this one is in between the Charles Bridge and Old Town Square, so it’s really easy to plan a visit and not miss it out, especially that depending on the side of Prague you will come from, you might cross next to the library without even realizing.
The access to both the library and Idiom Installation is absolutely free, and the schedule for visit is between 1 pm – 8 pm on Monday, from 9 am – 8 pm on Tuesday – Friday, and from 1 pm – 8 pm on Saturday, this being closed on Sunday.
Other places I've seen during my stay in Prague:
- The "John Lennon" Wall
- The Nustle Bridge also known as "The Suicide Bridge" of Prague
- Street Art in Prague
- The Dancing House
- Idiom Installation - the book tower of the Prague library
more coming soon...
Gabriela Travels is the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences. At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe. Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (260+ articles written on this field), but also abording other topics as well, like game reviews, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 550+ blog posts. Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, editing, cooking, and doing various sports activities.
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I love this post! The library is absolutely amazing! I love the effect that it creates! It’s now on my list for when I visit Prague, since I’ve never been there.
I agree with you, the adult life sometimes doesn’t allow us to add the reading into ours routines, but it’s very cute and healthy to keep alive the passion for it :D
Thanks a lot for sharing such a beautiful post!
Happy to hear that you added this to your must see in Prague! I definitely recommend it! 🤗
The library is actually the whole building that shares this installation but couldn't find a better place where to see this presented. ❤️
This library is amazing. Wondered to see a book tower.
It was a crazy experience for a bookworm like me! I'll definitely try to see all his art around Europe!
Yay! 🤗
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wow... It's really cool that the book tower you visited, I just saw it for the first time, and it amazed me with this amazing work.
I had the same feeling when seeing it first! Thank you! ☺️
Wow! It's awesome the book tower, how wonderful to live such a nice experience 😍🙌.
Yes!!! The wait felt like will last forever but it was so worth it at the end of it.
Impressive, I never imagined it. Thanks
Thank you