Time passes more slowly in the alleys, but the shadow of Prague is disappearing. On an expedition through the mysterious district of Prašina
We set out through night Prague in the footsteps of the strangest no go zone in the world. “I needed to get rid of my parents,” explained Vojtěch, also a scout leader, by the way, as a mysterious place emerged from his books. And he also wanted to get rid of today’s conveniences, just as the scouts do on expeditions. On our walk, however, we mostly dealt with places in the city where time passes more slowly than on the main streets.
“Coincidentally, the route we follow is strikingly the same as the route I ran,” says Matocha at the beginning of our walk. We roam inconspicuous places on the border of Vinohrady and Vršovice, where old, neglected villas, which experienced their glory sometime at the beginning of the 20th century, are hiding in the dark. Kotěrov houses and buildings full of turrets, which you would also expect in Prašina. “When I wrote that, I knew the place would look like this. Like a place that people have recently left, or only a handful live here. “
And why? “At the very beginning, the vision was to have a neighborhood in which the heroes would depend on themselves,” Matocha, the scout leader also explained, “I needed a place that would take the parents out of the games.” Parents spoil the adventure. I have created a place where when the heroes enter, no one will help them, they are dependent on themselves. “
Video In the footsteps of Prašina: Liberatura with Vojtěch Matocha
But Prašina’s new work is no longer just an adventure for children and a fascination with scouting. Now the story is expanding to the issue of excluded places, and even on the night expedition we solved how reckless the city is to itself. “We are on the square of old Vršovice, in Smolenská Street, which is the only one that has retained its old charm,” Matocha describes. Old houses have been removed, strange cubes are being created without any poetics. I have a feeling that the number of beautiful, shabby places in Prague is declining. Stínadelská Praha, it only stays here on the edges and is also gradually disappearing. “
Where did we go on a night trip along the borders of Prašina? We walked through side streets to a tunnel leading under a mysterious neighborhood, where trains without electricity slide. And we managed to discuss darkness and the love of technology or even how children perceive death in books. Listen to the adventure and let Vojta Matocha read samples from the news Prašina: Černý merkurit!