Strakonice, Czechoslovakia

said yesterday the indian painter SkyHawk, who is preparing an exhibition.

"For me, Strakonice represents the whole eastern bloc", said the director of the Central Museum of Pootavi, Dr Miroslav Specian, as he introduced to us the delegates of Jurgen Barthol's international Organization for Human Rights.

Jurgen Barthos is visiting the eastern Europe for the first time.  When asked how far do the activities of the organization go, he answered that he's trying to collaborate with the whole world but focuses mainly on America.  At the same time, he tries to keep the focis on the war in Bosnia and the fight against racism. J. Barthol traveled to Strakonice with the Indian painter SkyHawk, with the purpose of discussing with Director Specian about the possibility of an exhibition in our town. This exhibition should take place sometime in autumn and should be completed by a series of conferences about Indians and the Indian way of life.

The origins of the painter SkyHawk are pretty exotic. He was born in the mountains of Montana in northwest USA, on the Blackfeet reservation territory. He told us his grandfather used to be the chief of that tribe and after his death, SkyHawk's uncle took his place. "I come from a royla family just like Prince Charles", commented SkyHawk. We asked him how he came to Europe and what were his first impressions about Strakonice. SkyHawk said he had first been sent to Europe by the Chicago university, where he studied art and the second time he came to Europe in 1989 to participate in the Sacred Run. He already visited Strakonice once in the past , but only for two hours, so he didn't have much time to look around. Yesterday he caught up with what he missed last time. How does he feel about the inhabitants of Strakonice? "I usually pay attention to the visual impression. All I can say is that you have many pretty women here", declared SkyHawk. He just admitted being somewhat surprised by the clothes we wear.  He thinks we are wearing colors that are too dark.  He said people in the west always look like they are getting ready to go skiing, they wear such bright colors.

Translation "Sandpiper".

 back to Archives