Funny gifts for local politicians. From citizens with love

Mayor was given a statue for his birthday, rich ball attendees were fed bread and salt… A new form of civic disobedience has been blooming in Brno: tongue-in-cheek confessions of love and gratitude.

On 11/11/11, the very first protest of this kind took place at Moravské náměstí sq. and in the court of New Town Hall. The town’s mayor, Roman Onderka, was given an above-lifesize statue of himself for his birthday. The piece of art portrayed him flying on a piece of magical “obsidian” rock. Some 100+ people took part in this event. Its motto “May God protect you until the age of 111″ was a pun at Onderka’s expense, as he is obssesed with numerology.

Last weekend, crowd of the same size has greeted local politicians and other notables who were entering the opera to join the annual ball. All the ladies and gentlemen were offered a loaf of bread with salt by the “friendly occupants”. Reason? “We have so much to be thankful for. The local politicians did not tear down the complete Kamenná kolonie quarter, just one old and ugly house. They did not build underground garages beneath the Cabbage market in the historical centre. They did not close the opera. They preserved the fireworks festival,” stated Matěj Hollan before before the crowd started clapping hands and yelling “Thank you! – Hurray!” at the notables.

The first protests were iniciated by the platform ŽítBrno.cz, which I am personally involved in (learn more in this article). However, the movement has become quite independent, not being tied to any specific person or political opinion. It reflects the general disagreement of ordinary people with the way the town is managed by politicians. Read more about recent issues.

Also, check out more pictures of the statue for Mr. Onderka and a video footage of the ball hack.

Tagged as: ball, Matěj Hollan, politics, Žít Brno