Revolving sculpture returns to Prague

Unveiled on October 31, 2014, a revolving head of Czech writer Franz Kafka which sits outside the piazza at Quadrio shopping centre in Prague has undergone a complete renovation.

Unique sculpture

The decision was made to remove the unique sculpture and service the 42 rotating stainless steel parts as well as replacing the rotation mechanism so that it could be returned in time to commemorate the death of the acclaimed writer aged just 40 in 1924.

On Thursday February 29, the statue is due to be brought back to life and rotated in front of sculptor David Černý, accompanied by a massive sound and  light show.

Prague residents and visitors to the metropolis will once again able to look forward to the 15-minute rotation of the statue, which occurs every full hour.

Although he published very little, his most famous works being Metamorphosis, The Trial and The Castle, Kafka is considered to be one of the literary greats of the 20^th Century and the word Kafkaesque has been adopted to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing.

Burned most of his work

He was a complicated character who viewed the world differently from most people and although a prolific writer, he is believed to burned some 90 per cent of all that he wrote.

There is another Kafka statue in Prague as well as the Kafka Museum whilst the Goethe Institute is preparing a major retrospective covering his life and times.