Odd spoons from Pelhrimov (source: ČTK)
More than a hundred so-called ‘meaningless spoons’ created by Slovak cartoonist and artist Marian Vanek will become exhibits at the Pelhřimov Museum of Records and Curiosities in the Czech Republic and part of that collection can now be seen by visitors to tourism fairs in the city of Brno, the ČTK newswire wrote.
“The Good Day (Dobrý den) agency that annually organises the famed International Festival of Records and Curiosities that takes place in the Czech town of Pelhřimov wants to remind people that this year is already its twentieth,” said Josef Vaněk, the agency’s representative.
Vanek’s ‘meaningless spoons’ actually can be used to eat soup but apart from this basic functionality they all have some peculiar added value. For example, Vanek has created a spoon with a rear-view mirror for cyclists, a spoon for smokers with flutes on its sides where cigarettes can be put aside, and a spoon with military ranks designed for soldiers. The artist has been entertaining himself, and others, with production of such spoons for more than three decades.
Vanek, 69, is a renowned Slovak cartoonist, writer, carver and painter. He is the author of a bedtime story shown on STV and he has cooperated as an artist with film director Juraj Jakubisko. Vanek was prohibited from publishing his works after 1968 and earned his living for many years as a labourer. He now lives in Sušice in the Czech Republic.
The celebration of the museum and festival’s past 20 years will culminate on the second weekend in June with the International Festival of Records and Curiosities but the Brno exhibits are already presenting some of the history of the popular festival. “Visitors will see, for instance, a huge watering can, several statues made with a chain saw, and also paintings on a pinhead,” Vaněk said.
