Fears Are Fading: We Chose Light After All
Column for the special supplement “Christmas Decoration in 2022” of the magazine PRO města a obce (For Towns and Municipalities), January 2023.
After the time of the covid and energy crises, we looked ahead to this year’s Christmas with apprehension. Like life itself, it was subject to various cultural patterns and corresponding approaches, and unfortunately it was not hard for it to turn into a political matter. In the end, vigilance over a genuine solution did not lose its voice, and switching off lights and limiting the number of trees remained rather a tool of post-election debate.
After years in which people could meet at Christmas only outdoors, at a distance of two metres, we decided to organise a light exhibition in a space that sufficiently respected possible restrictions, as some municipal decorations had already approached them the year before. Across 30,000 m² at the Žluté lázně (Yellow Baths) in Prague, the first exhibition of its kind opened, and we extended our Christmas Courtyard for the wider public and moved it to the bank of the Vltava. We also prepared alternative sources; LEDs are undemanding in energy, and fortunately nobody dictated how and where to save.
After two years, people could return to Christmas markets in their towns, and the festive lighting of the trees was imbued with a feeling of renewed togetherness. Tourists from every corner returned to Old Town Square in Prague, and the installation Nebeské Vánoce (Heavenly Christmas), with its three-dimensional angels inspired by the idea of transcendence – without which none of us can know our true stature – conveys an important message: not to wait, to go beyond ourselves and to extend a hand to all in need, in quiet witness to the majesty of the Church of Our Lady before Týn. It is good that this message flies from the heart of the country to other towns and villages; on many other squares the Christmas carols of the youngest are heard, and their meaning grows stronger in the joy of those moments.
Some towns, through their approach, open themselves to the world, wherever they may be, and people from distant corners look for them on the map. Visitor interest raises their attractiveness and supports local life in many respects. When they have no municipal trams, they dress buses in Christmas attire, and on the river that flows through the town they have light swans and water lilies… Many towns aspire to be the Czech Strasbourg, and many feel more charming than Vienna – and rightly so. On the way through the town, a magical tram lights up the morning darkness, and I catch myself understanding the children’s joy: it is Christmas.
Fears disperse – after all, we chose light: light against darkness, light as the hope of our meetings, light as life. We live in a beautiful country, and may we remain a little “lit up” and in a Christmas mood even after Epiphany.