Jaroslav Horák, Umělecká prostředí v Černilově / Art environments in Černilov

unless stated otherwise, images are courtesy of Jaroslav Horák

The community of Černilov with about 2,200 inhabitants in the east of the Czech Republic, can boast of the presence of two art environments.

These sites were created from the early years of the 21st century by Jaroslav Horák, who lives in Černilov and was born into a family of millers.

The art environment with a mill 

and an area named Pohádkov (Fairy Tales)

Jaroslav Horák owned a piece of grassland just outside the village, along the road from Černilov to Libřantice. 

This meadow was no longer used for grazing cattle and there was only some dilapidated shed. 

Around 2011 Horák decided to renovate this shed, but the renovation wasn't just a matter of repair, it rather was a creative project, as a result of which the shed became a house with a lovely appearance, beautifully designed, especially with regard to the windows.

As the above image shows, near the now renovated and embellished barn, there is an area with arrangements of small-scale decorative wooden creations, made by Horák himself, This are was named Pohádkov, which means Fairy Tales.  

There are all kinds of fairytale items here, such as mushrooms, strange trees and giant flowers. 

Children of visitors can have fun here to their heart's content, such as playing hide and seek, using the many bushes to hide.

As the images show, the colorful elements are characteristic of the art environments created by Jaroslav Horák. 

They can also be found, for example, on the entrance gate, which has been decorated with colored round plates.  

In 2016, Horák started a big project that he had dreamed of for a long time. On the highest part of the meadow he built the mill that would become rather iconic for Černilov

Just as the renovated shed, the mill is characterized by colorful accents, such as the blades that are colored at the ends. These blades can rotate, but they do so powered by an electric motor.

The tower has three floors, is 13.5 meters high and has a diameter of 8 meters. The blades are 12 meters long. The interior of the mill includes a gallery with photos of interesting and attractive locations in Černilov and there is also a room for meetings and other social/cultural activities,

A plaque is attached to the facade in memory of victims of the 1950s, among whom Horák's parents.

As shown above, on the site also a special a creation has risen, consisting of nine high poles.

This ensemble is referred to as Černilov's Stonehenge, this because of the association with the megalithic monument in the English county of Wiltshire.

The two areas with semi-circular shelters are equipped with a table and benches, this to offer visitors a place to consume a drink or meal, if they have brought something similar.

This art environment can be visited by the public and visitors are welcomed with the text on the entrance gate saying Vitel kdo v dobrém přicházíš, which means Welcome who is coming in a good way.

The art environment Wet Meadow Gallery

this image (April 2024) as on Google Streetview

Around 2020 Horák started to create another art environment, also located on an arterial road from Černilov, but this time the one to Librice.

The site is located on a somewhat boggy piece of grassland and is referred to as the Wet Meadow Gallery (in Czech Mokrá louka-galerie)

The image above shows a small cottage, reminiscent of the shed near the mill site.

Seen from the road, a fairly long series of colorful sculptural ensembles starts to the right of the cottage, and it seems that this line, probably running along a ditch, continues until a side road of the arterial road.

Along the line there is a tulip tree, as in the image below, and then there is a group of aliens and there sheep, vases of flowers, gentlemen with parasols and so on.....

 

Gallery Mokrá Louka can be visited for free all year round.

Documentation

* Website dedicated to the two art environments, edited by Jaroslav Horák, with a variety of images

* Brief article about the two art environments in a publication dedicated to sights in the Czech Republic

* Facebook "Mlýn Černilov" (Černilov Mill) with various recent photos

Video

* Video (2023, YouTube, 5'32") by Patka Filmové studio

Jaroslav Horák  

Art environments in Černilov

along the roads to Libřantice and to Librice

Černilov, region Hradec Králové, Czech Republic

visitors welcome

Google Streetview with over 750 photos of the mill and the area around 

Google Streetview of the Wet Meadow area