The view on Avati, the statue guarding our space, arouses a wide range of feelings in me every time. Joy and gratitude mingle with reverence and respect. And with wonder at how everything around us works in perfect harmony.
Avati speaks to me. I understand now that she chose this place as well as us many years ago. Long before we even started planning this venue ourselves.
In 2021, I attended the week-long Kurandera Women’s Seminar. It brings the ancient teachings of the Peruvian Indians about women’s spirituality. Lucie Chaya, who has introduced this wisdom to the Czech Republic, showed us a beautiful being, Jasana. A wooden statue shining with strong energy and speaking to all who care to listen. The masterful workmanship, told us Lucie Chaya, is the work of a young bearded artist. He lives and works in a basement apartment located somewhere in Prague 5, from where the intense smell of wood and terpentine paint wafts.
Together with Lucia Chaya, Jasana has participated in dozens of workshops. Yet ours was the only one where this memory was heard. Now I know why. A young bearded artist lived in our basement! He was our tenant and I often smelled the scent of wood at his door. I checked out his website and was absolutely stunned. His work captivated me, took my breath away, and within moments I was sure we should have him create a sculpture for us.
I had no idea how collaborating with him would work or where we would place the sculpture. I just had an intense feeling that we needed it.
After a couple of years, this venue of ours was being born. A place for creating, for the creators, a place in the heart. And a place for our sculpture, as I soon realized. Unfortunately, Marek, the sculptor, had in the meantime moved from our flat to Olomouc and refused my request for a commissioned sculpture. He said he doesn’t work like that. He creates from the heart, not for money. And he is only willing to entrust each of his finished works to someone who is in harmony with the sculpture. I expressed my grief that we would have to look elsewhere for the guardian of our venues, which are largely intended to be used for man-woman seminaries. And at that moment, the story came full circle. Mark’s last sculpture, which he was working on at the time, was a symbol of the man-woman connection. A male body holding a woman in its heart. It would be hard to find a more accurate symbolism for our space.
I am extremely grateful that we now have Avati in our lives. We feel her wisdom, strength and support. And I know that anyone who finds themselves in the space she now guards can be inspired by her just as intensely.

– Mariana Příklenková