Vaclav Havel Memorial Bench Unveiled in Bratislava

Bratislava, July 5 (TASR) – The Slovak capital has ranked among the world cities having a memorial place dedicated to Vaclav Havel, as the Vaclav Havel bench was unveiled on Vajanskeho Embankment in Bratislava on Sunday. The day of the bench’s unveiling was symbolically set on July 5 to mark the 30th anniversary of Havel’s election as the first post-revolution and non-communist president of Czechoslovakia. The piece of art is comprised or a round table with a tree in the middle of it, which is surrounded by two chairs. It should symbolise an open dialogue. “We’re pleased to have a place like this, which is very symbolical – not politically, but with its human dimension,” said Bratislava’s Old Town mayor Zuzana Aufrichtova. The Vaclav Havel bench has been lent to the Old Town for 99 years. The bench to honour Vaclav Havel was designed by Czech architect and designer Borek Sipek. Czech Ambassador to the USA Petr Gandalovic came with the idea of creating the series of the same commemorative places dedicated to ex-president Vaclav Havel. The first bench of Vaclav Havel was unveiled on October 3, 2013 in premises of the Georgetown University in Washington. The next were located in Geneva, Lisbon, Oxford and New York. In Slovakia Vaclav Havel’s bench has already been installed in Kosice and the one in Bratislava’s Old Town is the 36th bench in a row in the world.