Cesky Krumlov is an ancient town with beautiful nature and historic buildings from the Middle Ages, and is registered as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The town was also once part of the so-called Sudetenland, annexed by Nazi Germany.
After encountering the second generation seedling of the bombed persimmon tree at Venice Biennial in 1999, Mr. Ivo Moravec, a biologist, planned the tree planting with his friends of Independent Company of Art in order to remember the war times in Cesky Krumlov.
Prior to tree planting, the tree presentation ceremony was held on the 4th of March. At the ceremony, the seedling was planted in a special pot by children and a small concert was performed by String Quartette Watzko.
At the tree planting ceremony on the 19th of May, a ceramic workshop was held in the garden in front of Mr. and Mrs. Petr Sladek’s studio. 6 children made their unique pieces in clay with guidance from Mr. Petr Sladek. Children’s parents and other local people also joined in Origami making. After that, everybody moved to the concert hall. The concert hall is a beautiful building, a former noble’s house remade into a hotel. Before the concert began, there were some talks on the significance of the concert which celebrated the occasion and the Kaki Tree Project. After a 15-year-old girl played a piano solo, the Bohemian City Orchestra also joined and performed a wonderful piano piece by Mozart. Japanese artists based in Germany, Tanaka and Shimojo, also attended the ceremony as representatives of the project.
The tree was moved to International Townshend School, which is located in a town 30km north of Cesky Krumlov in 2002 due to flood that damaged the town. The school has been taking good care of the tree.
