Last week, Brno city councillors approved an architectural design competition to select a tombstone for the grave of celebrated Brno-born novelist Milan Kundera and his wife Vera, which will be installed in the honorary circle at Brno’s Central Cemetery. Registration will end on 28 April 2025, and the new tombstone should be in place by July 2026, marking three years from the writer’s death. Councillors are also hoping that the design competition will attract international entrants, including from Kundera’s adopted homeland of France.
“Milan Kundera became famous, among other things, for his rational to analytical style, which allowed him to get to the core of matters,” said Markéta Vaňková, Mayor of Brno. “And so, simple yet communicative, should be his tombstone. Given its international importance, we want to spread information about the competition in France, which was his home in recent decades. We will address the Czech Center in Paris and our partner city of Rennes.”
Submissions of a model and graphic representation of its ideological intention must be entered by 28 April this year. The jury will gather in May, consisting of: Ondřej Císler from the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University in Prague; Marcel Fišer, director of the Fine Art Gallery in Cheb; prof. Tomáš Kubíček, director of the Moravian Library and a family friend of Kundera; Terezie Petišková, director of the Brno House of Arts; and sculptor Martin Zet. The city will be represented by Mayor Markéta Vaňková, Deputy Mayor Filip Chvátal, Councillor Tomáš Aberl, and representative Kateřina Jarošová.
The grave site was reserved for Milan Kundera and his wife Věra in the honorary circle of 25e, grave No. 15 of Brno’s Central Cemetery. The cost of installing the tombstone, which should be finished no later than July next year on the occasion of the third anniversary of Kundera’s death, is earmarked as CZK 1.25 million, with a further CZK 250,000 split between the designers of the best proposal.
