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348 results for “jiri_svestka”
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You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague – Smithsonian Magazine
You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague
Officials are managing an influx of tourists coming to see “Idiom,” a seemingly infinite tunnel of books by the artist Matej Krén, at the Municipal Library
By Christian Thorsberg, Correspondent January 16, 2026
Inside Idiom, which uses mirrors to provide the illusion of infinite length Omar Marques / Anadolu Agency / Getty ImagesNearly 30 years after a dizzying sculpture fashioned from books was first installed at the Prague Municipal Library in the Czech Republic, literature lovers on TikTok and Instagram have turned the artwork into a viral fascination and unexpected tourism hotspot.
Idiom, created by Slovak artist Matej Krén, features roughly 8,000 books stacked into a tower. Mirrors placed on the top and bottom give the illusion of infinite length, and a raindrop-shaped entryway invites visitors to peek inside the wormhole—almost like they’re literally disappearing into a good book.
“The Idiom is meant to symbolize the infinity of knowledge,” according to a description of the sculpture on the library’s website. “[Books] are like bricks to [Krén], but they contain much more information, destinies, stories and knowledge. He puts them into the form of dwellings: primitive on the one hand, infinitely intelligent on the other.”
During peak travel seasons, the library estimates that 1,000 people per day are visiting the installation. Omar Marques / Anadolu Agency / Getty ImagesThe installation made its debut at the Sao Paulo International Biennial in 1995, and in 1996 it was brought to Prague. It was first exhibited for a summer at the Jiri Svestka Gallery, which in the 1950s was a communist warehouse of banned books, before moving to its permanent home at the library in 1998.
For years, Idiom stood as little more than a familiar fixture, with its fame generally limited to the regular library-goers in the Czech capital. But beginning in 2022, the sculpture gained renown by going viral on BookTok, the pocket of TikTok dedicated to discussions of books and writing. Algorithms on Instagram similarly pushed the sculpture to the forefront of feeds.
“Kids that were in Prague looking into their phones suddenly saw a cool thing that they liked and they wanted to see it as well,” Czech journalist Janek Rubeš told Radio Prague International in 2023. “And as it is in today’s world, everyone wants to have the same picture or same video, because it looks cool and they can get likes.”
Quick fact: Idiom on the cover of Science
A photo of the sculpture was featured on the magazine’s cover in January 2011.In that issue, researchers analyzed a massive collection of 5.2million books to study cultural trends.
Today, librarians and local tourism officials are bewildered at the foot traffic the sculpture generates. During peak travel seasons—such as Christmas and Easter—more than 1,000 people each day endure wait times of more than two hours to snap a photograph.
“We’ll have to deal with it in some way, because working with tourist crowds is a completely different service from that we have provided up to now,” Lenka Hanzlikova, a spokesperson for the library, tells Agence France-Presse (AFP). “Most readers laugh about it and say it’s bizarre, but we have had people who wanted to return books and joined the queue.”
Continue/Read Original Article Here: You Can See a Swirling Sculpture Made of 8,000 Books at a Library in Prague
Tags: 8000 Books, Czech Republic, Czechoslovakia, Idiom, Instagram, Library, Matej Kren, Municipal Library, Prague, Slovak, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Magazine, Swirling Sculpture, TikTok
#8000Books #CzechRepublic #Czechoslovakia #Idiom #Instagram #Library #MatejKren #MunicipalLibrary #Prague #Slovak #SmithsonianInstitution #SmithsonianMagazine #SwirlingSculpture #TikTok -
The Long-eared Owl may look alert with its “ears,” but those are actually just feathers. Its real ears are hidden—and asymmetrical—helping it locate prey with incredible precision, even in complete darkness.
#longearedowl #asiotus #owlsofinstagram #sovysveta
#kaloususaty #sova #ptaci #priroda #wildlife #naturephotography #birdphotography -
The Long-eared Owl may look alert with its “ears,” but those are actually just feathers. Its real ears are hidden—and asymmetrical—helping it locate prey with incredible precision, even in complete darkness.
#longearedowl #asiotus #owlsofinstagram #sovysveta
#kaloususaty #sova #ptaci #priroda #wildlife #naturephotography #birdphotography -
The Long-eared Owl may look alert with its “ears,” but those are actually just feathers. Its real ears are hidden—and asymmetrical—helping it locate prey with incredible precision, even in complete darkness.
#longearedowl #asiotus #owlsofinstagram #sovysveta
#kaloususaty #sova #ptaci #priroda #wildlife #naturephotography #birdphotography -
The Long-eared Owl may look alert with its “ears,” but those are actually just feathers. Its real ears are hidden—and asymmetrical—helping it locate prey with incredible precision, even in complete darkness.
#longearedowl #asiotus #owlsofinstagram #sovysveta
#kaloususaty #sova #ptaci #priroda #wildlife #naturephotography #birdphotography -
The Long-eared Owl may look alert with its “ears,” but those are actually just feathers. Its real ears are hidden—and asymmetrical—helping it locate prey with incredible precision, even in complete darkness.
#longearedowl #asiotus #owlsofinstagram #sovysveta
#kaloususaty #sova #ptaci #priroda #wildlife #naturephotography #birdphotography -
A ghost of the twilight — the Barn Owl resting among heather blooms. 🦉🌸
Its pale feathers melt into the fading light, a moment of silence before the hunt begins.#barnowl #owl #wildlifephotography #birdphotography #nature #heather #wildlife #nocturnal
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A ghost of the twilight — the Barn Owl resting among heather blooms. 🦉🌸
Its pale feathers melt into the fading light, a moment of silence before the hunt begins.#barnowl #owl #wildlifephotography #birdphotography #nature #heather #wildlife #nocturnal
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Jiří Jaroň #CR dal Polární Záře 8A+ #Bor
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@jiri @tatort
Ich würde sagen: War kein Burner, aber man kann ihn gut gucken.
#polizeiruf110 -
Jiří Korn (*1949) je známý špic, peský psěvák, peskytarista, modelabrátor, labrec a showdog.
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#matylda #labrador #labradosti #joybrador #labradorretriever #labradors #brownlabrador #blacklabrador #labradorlove #lovelabrador #labdogs #doglovers #labrador_lovers #blackbrador #lovebrador #jirikorn #kornspic -
CW: Persujen Keronen piessyt vaimonsa
Jiri Keronen on pahoinpidellyt vaimonsa, ja vaimonsa on pahoinpidellyt hänet.
Käräjäoikeus langetti molemmille 80 päiväsakkoa.
#Keronen valittanut tuomiostaan hoviin, että ei vielä lainvoimainen.
#JiriKeronen on tuomiosta huolimatta ehdolla kevään vaaleissa.
#persut #äärioikeisto #kuntavaalit #eduskuntavaalit #väkivalta #väkivaltarikos #pahoinpitely #politiikka #kunnat #alueet
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CW: Persujen Keronen piessyt vaimonsa
Jiri Keronen on pahoinpidellyt vaimonsa, ja vaimonsa on pahoinpidellyt hänet.
Käräjäoikeus langetti molemmille 80 päiväsakkoa.
#Keronen valittanut tuomiostaan hoviin, että ei vielä lainvoimainen.
#JiriKeronen on tuomiosta huolimatta ehdolla kevään vaaleissa.
#persut #äärioikeisto #kuntavaalit #eduskuntavaalit #väkivalta #väkivaltarikos #pahoinpitely #politiikka #kunnat #alueet
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@jiri ok, už mlčím. Víte co, celé příští Friday Follow bude jen o zástupcích alternativních platforem a odkazech na jejich veřejné timeline 😉 mě Fediverse zajímá jako celek a mám ještě další domény, na které bych mohl vrazit jiný software než Mastodon a používat je na trochu jiné věci. A přihodím i Friendicu...
Tak se mi postupně nějak hlašte, vzorek mám, ale můžete použít třeba hashtag #czfedi nebo #fedicz nebo czertvíco ... je jasné, že hype kolem Mastodonu nebyl jen tak sám od sebe a že to, že se na Twitteru nezačalo masivně mluvit o Fediverse a různých alternativách, ale jen o Mastodonu asi nebylo samo sebou (ale třeba já Mastodon používal už od roku 2018 a vlastně jsem ty alternativy sám neznal)
Kdo se hodně zajímá o statistiky růstu různých platforem je @martin - pravidelně postuje, co je nového a která platforma roste nejrychleji.
Na první pohled vidím hodně pochybnou interoperabilitu tagů mezi Soapboxem a Hubzillou. Mastodon jasně hashtagy manageuje lokálně, Hubzilla vnucuje proklik k sobě. Tohle si Fediappky budou muset ještě vyříkat, protože tag je skoro stejně základní věc, jako uživatelská identita...
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Bývalý ministr a senátor Jiří Dienstbier ostře hodnotí vznikající vládu ANO, SPD a Motoristů sobě i nominace na klíčové
Tón: : mírně negativní
#česko #gdelt #dienstbier #babiš #zůna
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Bývalý ministr a senátor Jiří Dienstbier ostře hodnotí vznikající vládu ANO, SPD a Motoristů sobě i nominace na klíčové
Tón: : mírně negativní
#česko #gdelt #dienstbier #babiš #zůna
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Buffalo Sabres forward Jiri Kulich to miss significant time with a blood clot https://www.rawchili.com/nhl/296352/ #BloodClot #Buffalo #BuffaloSabres #BuffaloSabres #Hockey #JiriKulich #LindyRuff #NHL #Sabres #TheSabres
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Sabres Notebook: Jiri Kulich to miss 'significant time' due to blood clot issue – Buffalo News https://www.rawchili.com/nhl/295805/ #BuffaloSabres #DetroitRedWings #Hockey #IceHockey #IceHockeyLeagues #NationalHockeyLeague #NationalHockeyLeagueTeams #SeasonsInAmericanIceHockey #SeasonsInAmericanSport #SeasonsInCanadianIceHockey #SeasonsInIceHockey #sports #SportsManagementCompanies #TopLevelSportsLeagues #TopTierIceHockeyLeagues
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Buffalo Sabres star Jiri Kulich to miss months due to ‘serious’ blood clot injury https://www.rawchili.com/nhl/295741/ #Buffalo #BuffaloSabres #BuffaloSabres #Hockey #IceHockey #JiriKulich #KevynAdams #LindyRuff #NHL #Sabres
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Nachdem ich mit Jiří im Railjet nach Brno gefahren bin, ging es mit dem SEV im Bus, dann einem alten Zug, weiter Richtung #Třebíč. Hier ist ein UNESCO Weltkulturerbe, das fast vollständig erhaltene jüdische Viertel.
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Both are coming for the belt😤
@[email protected] vs @[email protected]
[ #UFC327 | LIVE NOW on @[email protected] ] -
UFC 327 Livestream: How to Watch Jiri Prochazka vs. Carlos Ulberg Title Fight Live Online
#Variety #News #HowtoWatch #MMA #ParamountPlus #Sports #UFC -
Aus Anlass seines heutigen Geburtstages – Jiří Družecký (eingedeutscht: Georg Druschetzky):
„Jiří Družecký (Druschetzky) Parthia in Dis
Jiří Družecký (Druschetzky) (1745-1819) Parthia in Dis for 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Fr.Horns and 2 Bassoons
1. Allegro
2. Andante
3. Menuetto
4. Variazioni
Collegium Musicum Prague
Rec.: 1988“
#Klassik
#classicalmusic
#OTD
https://fediserve.de/preview.php?v=bogCl9iq9YI -
Pflanzen üben auf den Biologen & Wittgenstein-Preisträger Jiří Friml eine besondere Faszination aus. Er hat die Funktion des Hormons #Auxin als Vermittler zw. Umgebung und Zellkommunikation in #Pflanzen entdeckt.
@istaustria 🌿Video-Porträt Jiří Friml ▶️
https://scilog.fwf.ac.at/magazin/pflanzen-koennen-nicht-weglaufen -
UFC 327 odds, predictions: Jiri Prochazka, Carlos Ulberg battle for light heavyweight title https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7182654/2026/04/11/ufc-327-prochazka-ulberg-odds-picks/ Brett Appley previews three fights on the UFC 327 card, including the headliner between Jiří Procházka and Carlos Ulberg. #MMA
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Jannik Sinner completes Sunshine Double with Miami Open win over Jiri Lehecka https://english.mathrubhumi.com/sports/tennis/jannik-sinner-wins-miami-open-sunshine-double-ouhsgycx?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon #JannikSinner #MiamiOpen #Tennis
