With its height of 216 meters, the Žižkov Television Tower is the tallest building in Prague. It attracts attention from afar, but also up close – those who come closer to it may be surprised to see large black “babies” crawling up the tower’s body. These are sculptures by David Černý.
The Babies were originally created for an installation at the Museum of Modern Art in Chicago. But it also appeared, for example, in London, on the building of the Czech embassy.
They were first placed on the Žižkov Tower in 2000 as part of the Prague – European City of Culture event. A total of 10 sculptures of toddlers climbing up and down were supposed to be on the tower only temporarily, but they remained permanently due to the positive response.
The original statues weighed 190 kg. After 17 years, they were replaced with new ones that weigh 350 kg, are 3.5 meters long, and are 2.6 meters high.
Instead of a face, they have some kind of code embossed, making them a bit creepy creatures. David Černý says this symbolizes the alluring but also somewhat scary technological advances.
Since 2008, three of the babies have also been on Kampa Island. They don’t climb high here, but they crawl along the ground, so you can get a close look at them. These babies aren’t plastic, they’re made of bronze – each one weighs 800kg.
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