Return Mysterious Ostrava fold-out book
  What is behind the title Mysterious Ostrava?
The book Mysterious Ostrava is connected to a successful series of “Mysterious” fold-out books that I’ve written over the past ten years. I call them mysterious because they all have the Czech word for mysterious in their titles – Mysterious Prague, Mysterious Castles and Châteaux of the Czech Kingdom, Prague Castle and Its Secrets, Mysterious Golem, Bohemian Paradise and Its Secrets. You leaf through these fold-out books as you would a regular book with the difference that a three-dimensional picture is always looking out at you. The only expanding book from my workshop is The History of the Brave Czech Nation. It is an accordion fold-out book, which can be extended to a length of 9 metres.

How long does work on a fold-out book last?
I had to do Mysterious Ostrava in record time so that the book would be published before the opening of the “Ostrava?” exhibition. It took six years to write History, and I set aside at least six months for a “mysterious” fold-out book. Ostrava came into existence in just short of four months, and additionally in unusually complicated circumstances. I am glad that the haste isn’t visible in the finished book, mostly thanks to the preparatory team for the “Ostrava?” exhibition. They supplied me, or more precisely overwhelmed me, with information about Ostrava, which I would have otherwise had to gather very laboriously and tediously.

How many “chapters” does Mysterious Ostrava have?
The book is composed of six three-dimensional pictures. The main picture is surrounded by short texts that tell about the history and fables of Ostrava in a light-hearted manner. Also, all the texts are accompanied by cartoon figures commenting on the information in a humorous way.

Could you briefly summarize for us what is covered in individual chapters?
The first picture brings us back to prehistoric times. Together with a giant dragonfly, we hear an explanation about the origin of coal. It is also here that we catch up with mammoth hunters, who are just solving their problems with the creation of the Petřkovice Venus and also with the excessive glow of an unfamiliar rock. Upon turning the page we immediately find ourselves on Ostrava’s main square. There was once a settlement here, and merchants came this way, sometimes passing through unscathed and other times leaving impoverished. And then the settlement grew into a small town … And suddenly we are in the underground. Coal was found in this region in the middle of the 18th century, but from the very beginning it presented nothing but difficulties, and it was a very long time before a use was found for it. Finally it was discovered by some bold and enterprising people, and thus in the fourth picture we can already see the slender smokestacks of the future Vítkovice Ironworks. In the fifth picture there is a winding tower – one of the symbols of Ostrava, rising from every possible and impossible place. This provincial small town evolved into a grimy, noisy factory. The last page is dominated by the New City Hall, which was built in the period when Ostrava was known throughout the world.

Who is the audience for this book?
My books are mainly geared for children, but adults get them, too. I often inscribe my books to people receiving them as a wedding gift or for a thirtieth birthday. One well-known historian, for instance, got The History of the Brave Czech Nation for his sixtieth birthday. The funny thing is that he got it from three different people, and he already had one from us, so now he has four copies.

How did this fold-out book originate?
Ostrava captured my attention a long time ago, precisely because of its unique atmosphere. When I got the offer to write a book, I was thrilled, but at the same time my first inclination was to turn down the work, because we were in a very complicated situation. We are creating a series for Czech Television based on The History of the Brave Czech Nation, and that takes up a lot of time. I am working on the scenarios and devoting time to the artistic side of the film, and Pancho (my husband and also the publisher of the book) is composing the music. Further, we were having problems with the reconstruction of our flat. The contractor cheated us. In an attempt to get more money from us, he tore up the entire flat, and he wouldn’t do anything more unless we paid him. We found ourselves out on the street. I forgot to mention that we have a little two-year-old son (he was then a year and a half). And Toník isn’t exactly a placid child. Luckily, my mother-in-law took us in. We all crowded together in a tiny flat. The computer took up half of the dining table. I painted pictures on bathroom floor and on the balcony when it was warm. That may sound romantic, but just try to concentrate when moths start dancing around the lamp, which is 10 centimetres from your head! And on top of everything else, our distributor went bankrupt, but that’s the way of the world. Worse was that he didn’t pay us on sales for at least a year. My husband, instead of being able to look after Toník, had to establish new distribution. Oh, and my mother-in-law threw out her back and we had to take her to the hospital …

How did you go about selecting events from Ostrava’s history?
As always, I immersed myself in information. Seeing that I got more than sixty book from the Ostrava team, I had plenty to choose from. As I read through the books, I immediately started making drawings and thinking up jokes. Originally I didn’t know whether the book would be just a smattering of interesting points about the city or if I would put them in chronological order. I was really happy when I found enough interesting information from every period of history.

Which figure or event aroused your sympathy, and why?
The question about the most sympathetic figure is always difficult for me. Generally I feel sympathy or rather admiration for people who manage despite all stumbling blocks to put their good ideas into action. In this case, that would be Professor Riepl [who implemented the steam railway line from Vienna to Krakow via Ostrava (Ed.)], but also the other bold people who built and managed all of these factories, mines and ironworks. I know how hard it can be to assert your views just among a circle of acquaintances, let alone on such a large scale and risking a stratospheric amount of money.

Are you satisfied with the book?
I always like my books – they are like my children, and what’s more they don’t misbehave, and mistakes can be corrected in the proofreading … I am particularly enthusiastic about Mysterious Ostrava, because it’s about a place that a lot of people don’t give much thought to but is worthy of notice. I met with remarks like, “It’s just an ugly, grimy city. What do you want to write about it?” This book shows that just the opposite is true. Castles and châteaux can be found everywhere, but there is only one Ostrava.

There are only two cities about which you created fold-out books – Prague and Ostrava …
It is very curious. I have written about other places, but as individual cities only Prague and Ostrava. They are two proud, independent cities, and each one is completely different. In Mysterious Prague I focused more on legends. The three-dimensional pictures are filled with famously well-known places, often with a millennium-long history. Ostrava is proud of its quite recent past, and certainly its present.

What is mysterious in Ostrava?
Every place has its own mystery. The most mysterious thing in Ostrava is that few people would expect that it is mysterious. With Prague, nobody is taken aback by the epithet “mysterious”. It surprised me how many interesting, intriguing and curious stories I found about Ostrava. It could have been a much bigger book. For me, what’s mysterious is basically everything about which I previously had no clue, and that’s a lot, I must add. Wherever I go I stumble upon mystery, and I am constantly amazed.


What are the dimensions of the “giant” version of the fold-out book? Why was the enlargement created?
Not long ago, for an exhibition at the National Museum, we made an enlargement of The History of the Brave Czech Nation. It reaches two metres high and seventy metres long. There is exceptional interest in this enlargement; it enables you to step right into the book and at the same time into our history. Our big History has already travelled a lot. Not only is it now travelling throughout the USA, but it has also visited Luxembourg, Bologna, Frankfurt, Bratislava … We also made an enlargement of Mysterious Ostrava. It was displayed at the Černá Louka exhibition grounds as part of the accompanying programme for the “Ostrava?” exhibition, and visitors could walk through the book and share in the joys and hardships of the characters. The giant version of Mysterious Ostrava is 2 metres 15 centimetres high and 10 and a half metres long. As with History we employed technologies used in advertising, for example on billboards. Thanks to a special raster it is possible to use the same materials from the book to create the giant version.

Did you have any interesting incidents while working on the fold-out book?
Precisely because the book originated in such improvised conditions, its production was constantly filled with mini-dramas. It was a struggle to keep a watchful eye on the originals with two-year-old Toník, who has slightly different ideas about how a proper picture should look. He loves locomotives and is always walking around with a pencil in his hand drawing wheels everywhere. When I worked in the bathroom, I was holed up like a mouse, and occasionally someone didn’t notice me and splattered me as well as the originals with the shower. I wasn’t even safe on the balcony. Moths only pestered me at night, but during the day wasps came to have a look at my work, and this year was a bumper year for them. When it rained, the paint wouldn’t dry; when the sun shone, the paint dried too fast. In a downpour, the original would get splattered with raindrops. The wind also wanted to inspect the paintings … I wish they would lock up our contractor in jail and let him rot there. We have already sued him.

What presented the greatest difficulties – from the technical as well as the content side?
For me the text portion is always the hardest. I try to write concisely, clearly, and at the same time pithily and mainly wittily. In the past I tried to work with some “prolific writers”, but they are all very verbose.

Can you say a few words about yourself? Who is Lucie Seifertová?
Lucie Seifertová is an artist who by coincidence became a writer. She studied only at art schools (the Hollar Secondary School of Art and in the painting department of the Academy of Fine Arts with Professor Sopko). She worked for various magazines as the art editor (Dikobraz [Porcupine], To jsem Já [It’s Me], Onhíček [Campfire]). She is the author of seven fold-out books (Mysterious Prague, Mysterious Castles and Châteaux of the Czech Kingdom, Prague Castle and Its Secrets, The History of the Brave Czech Nation, Mysterious Golem, Bohemian Paradise and Its Secrets, Mysterious Ostrava). For Czech Radio she creates web pages for children. Now, at the age of forty, she has a husband, Pancho, who aside from being musician also publishes books, and also a two-year-old son, Toník, and a wonderful mother-in-law, without whom Mysterious Ostrava would not exist.

What are you working on now?
Together with my husband, Pancho, and the director Pavel Koutský, I am participating in the creation of a hundred-part serial for Czech Television based on The History of the Brave Czech Nation. I am working on the scenery, and I draw the figures and backgrounds, of which there are quite a lot. We are already in the Gothic period. To paint a beautiful Gothic columned hall might take several days, and then it might be shown for only two seconds. I am already looking forward to the Baroque. I also draw pictures for the website of Czech Radio. But I make the the most pictures for my son, Toník, who is very interested in locomotives, so I have already drawn about 200 of them. When babysitting falls through, it is like a holiday for me and I go with Toník to the playground.

What are you planning for the future?
A sibling for Toník, a world history, and I would like to continue with the series of Mysterious fold-out books.

When did you begin to draw and paint?
From the time I first took a pencil into my hand. Already in preschool I decided that I would become an illustrator.

So you devoted yourself to creative work already as a child?
Basically, I have done nothing other then read and paint.

What event in childhood predetermined your artistic direction?
I drew in my father’s Albrecht Dürer monograph. My father announced that I would certainly become a great illustrator. That word sounded quite frightening. That certainly will be a terrible punishment, I thought. But one doesn’t have to scribble in books, so I have served my punishment.

How did you get from painting pictures to creating original books?
I have always wanted to illustrate. I enjoy painting pictures, but I don’t like exhibiting, openings and endless conversations about art and the requisite commentary on why I painted what I did and what I meant with it … At the same time as I was studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, I worked as an art editor for the magazine It’s Me, and they were doing an ongoing serial about the “History of the Brave Czech Nation”. After finishing the series, I canvassed publishers whether someone would be interested in printing History as a book. All of them rejected the idea, until one suggested that I try such a book, but smaller one and about Prague, and if that book sold well he would publish History. The book sold very well, and so another one followed and then finally also History. These, however, were published by my husband, because the publisher was offering me only two percent on sales.

Why do you choose themes from history? Did you have a favourite book about history as a child?
I got as the assignment to create the History serial at the children’s magazine It’s Me. One day the editor-in-chief simply came to me and said she had a great idea, that there would be a history serial in the magazine and that Seifertová would write it. At that time I knew very little about history. In art school I learned mainly about painters, sculptors and a couple of architects. Connection of these names with historical events was minimal. There was nothing left than to study it all. From the library I hauled home two hockey bags and a backpack full of books. I poured the books out on the bed, I settled in among them and didn’t come out until I had looked at them all. A passion for history hasn’t left me. I am always gathering more information. Because the older information is constantly disappearing from my head, I no longer have to buy new books, I just re-read the old ones. As a child I read all the titles that Štorch published. I loved Greek myths and desperately I tried to learn all about them.

How do you write and draw?
When I study (the best is in my bed) the necessary materials, I immediately make notes, little drawings, and I think up jokes. I often use these drawings right in the book. I paint the pictures for the books in watercolours. As regards a space for creating, as I already mentioned I am capable of working practically anywhere.

What else do you enjoy doing aside from drawing, painting and writing?
These days it’s mainly playing with my son. Before, I enjoyed going on outings, and Pancho and I would go on all-day hikes. With Toník, however, we go at most two kilometres, and we’re happy that we’re happy with that. On the other hand, we have to study the path to the smallest detail. We have to stop at every pebble and blade of grass and explain everything in detail.

What is your relationship to Ostrava?
It is strange, but even though we live quite far from Ostrava, by odd coincidence we have worked with Ostrava quite often. Mainly Pancho. He originally played in the band Sluníčko, and half the band was made up of Ostravans. For a while he participated in the project of Bořek Slezáček – also an Ostravan. And when he set out on a solo career, his manager became Vítek Rotter – of course, an Ostravan. He recorded his first solo album in the studio of Richard Kroček, and his guitarist was Radek Pastrňák – so Ostrava and Ostrava again. On his first visit to Ostrava, Pancho fell under its spell. My husband is very talkative, and he recounted long stories from Ostrava, describing its atmosphere, and I couldn’t believe that such a place really existed. He experienced it still in a quite raw state, and he told me how he once was going down the street and suddenly was in the middle of a factory, containers of coal suspended overhead, flames shooting up from smokestacks. On top of that he had plenty of stories about various local figures. There was no choice than for me to fall in love with Ostrava, too.

What prizes have your books won and how well do they sell?
For the fold-out book The History of the Brave Czech Nation I won the following prizes: Magnesia Litera for the best children’s book of the year, the Gold Ribbon for the best children’s popular educational book, and in Slovakia the Golden Seal for the best polygraphic design of the year. In the six years that my husband, Pancho, has been publishing the fold-out books, we have sold more than 220,000 copies. My exhibition of the enlargement of The History of the Brave Czech Nation has been visited by more than 300,000 people.