HOW A TOMCAT TRAVELLED THE WORLD

Exhibition concept: Petr Nikl, Lukáš Toman
Texts: Tereza Bruthansová, Petr Nikl, Lukáš Toman, František Vyskočil
Graphic design: Zuzana Lednická

This revealing exhibition presents Libuše Niklová’s original accordion animal toys alongside numerous copies of her designs. Her famous tomcat from 1963 travelled beyond the borders of Czechoslovakia and was modified in line with local tastes, meaning that he was never quite the same as the original. These mutations of Libuše Niklová’s toys were made without her knowledge. Previously experts and collectors had only known of three countries where this had happened, but Lukáš Toman has tracked down and documented more than 130 different versions of these accordion toys from more than twenty countries. Along the way many of them are showing in this exhibition.

The accordion tomcat was and still is a global phenomenon, which is why he is one of the “faces” of the 26^th ICOM General Conference, which will be held in Prague this August. To mark this occasion the International Council of Museums decided to name the tomcat Liba, after his creator.

More information about Libuše Niklová and her work at libuseniklova.com