Prague Boats hosted finalists of the children's art competition “Vltava through children's eyes”
Aboard the modern glass-roofed boat Bohemia Rhapsody, the Vltava came alive yesterday in the colours of children's imagination. Prague Boats welcomed the finalists of the nationwide art competition Vltava through children's eyes, organised as part of the project Vltava — Famous and Navigable.
The festive cruise began with both emotion and joy. Naďa Goryczková, Director General of the National Heritage Institute, personally presented awards and gifts to the young artists, whose works had been selected by an expert jury from more than 1,500 entries.
After the awards, the children and their parents set out on a cruise along the Vltava that revealed Prague's landmarks from an unusual perspective — from the surface of the river. The trip even included a passage through a navigation lock, a fascinating technical experience that many described as “floating in zero gravity”.
After mooring at the Rašín embankment, a surprise awaited the participants — a visit to the historic Vyšehrad steamer. Children and adults alike discovered the magic of steamboat travel from past centuries and learned that today's Vyšehrad is already the fourth boat to bear that name, inseparable from the history of Czech river transport.
The day ended with playfulness and a love of engineering. In the lounge with an interactive exhibition of the Merkur construction set, children examined an almost two-metre model of the Vyšehrad steamer and a sixty-kilogram model of the Dancing House. And because children's creativity knows no limits, they built their own little models too.
Aboard Bohemia Rhapsody, all the awarded drawings were also on display — a colourful mosaic of imagination, colour and views of the Vltava as seen by children from all over the country. The competition drew entries from 145 school groups and clubs and 374 individual children. The result is a unique collection of two- and three-dimensional works capturing the Vltava in all its variability — from quiet meanders to magical creatures from the river's depths.
“It was a great honour for us to host children whose work shows that the Vltava remains not only a symbol of Prague, but also an endless source of inspiration for new generations,” said Lucie Nedvědová, marketing director of Prague Boats. “We believe that this day will stay in the memory of every young artist as the moment their drawings literally set out on a cruise.”
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