Ghostly sculptures draw attention to dilapidated St. Georges church

Earlier this year, Jakub Hadrava, a third-year student of sculpture at the University of West Bohemia, made international headlines with an unusual installation at St. Georges church, a dominant but dilapidated site located in Lukova in the picturesque Plze countryside. Consisting of more than a dozen life-sized ghostly figures which the artist seated in the churchs pews. The work became a focal point for tourists from as close by as Germany and far off as Brazil.

Photo: Czech Television Not long ago, I spoke to the artist, asking him how the project came together:

The idea came together in Professor Ji Berneks atelier at the Ladislav Sutnar Department of Design and Fine Arts at the University of West Bohemia. Everyone in the class was to find a suitable but dilapidated church for their own installation, with the aim of also trying to raise funds for the Plze Diocese to use for renovation. Basically, it was my Bachelors work. Some locations that my colleagues went with had only the foundations or a few walls. We are all studying Landscape art, so my colleagues work was more abstract. One work reflected the stations of the cross, another replaced missing windows.

St. Georges church in Lukova, dating back to the 14th century, was in better shape, with a damaged roof but still functional interior. The church, has what Czechs call a bent history through the centuries, suffering fire and sacking, then falling into disrepair and disuse for decades after the 1960s, after part of the ceiling collapsed during a funeral. Petr Koukl is a local resident who helped artist Jakub Hadrava with the project.

Jakub Hadrava, photo: Czech Television Theres no question the 14th century church has seen a lot: it suffered several fires, it was allegedly damaged by the Husittes, it was rebuilt several times. The last straw, though, was the collapse of part of the ceiling during a funeral service in 1968 which chased the mourners out. After that the church was closed and not reopened again.

The years which followed were not kind to St. Georges, either; Petr Koukl again:

Everything was broken or stolen. Paintings and statues were lost, the church bell was stolen, the church organ was damaged, the tower clock and mechanism are gone. Everything went missing. The communist regime certainly had no love for religion so this was hardly the only site allowed to fall into disrepair.

Koukl, who originally bought property in Lukova for a summer home, became intrigued when he heard there was chance the church might be repaired. He agreed to make sure the church was accessible to visitors in the summer and autumn months, after the sculptures were installed.

St. Georges church in Lukov, photo: Zdeka Bukov, CC BY-SA 4.0) Its true the church in Lukova attracted an enormous amount of attention: we had visitors from other parts of the Czech Republic but also from abroad: Germany, England, Australia, Brazil, Russia. The installation and church has proven to be very popular with photographers. You could say that this project kickstarted an interest in saving dilapidated churches in the area.

As for the ghostly figures themselves? Creator Jakub Hadrava told me how they were produced.

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Ghostly sculptures draw attention to dilapidated St. Georges church