Jul 17 2008
Cow No 23
Cow No 23
The CowParade project began as a local event for increasing tourism and business in Zurich, Switzerland in 1998. Due to big success the project was expanded to many cities and in 2004, a CowParade was held in Prague. Project represents life-sized fiberglass cow sculptures decorated by selected local artists. Unfortunately Prague experienced the highest rate of damage, cows have been covered with graffiti, found vandalized, or moved from their original location. One of the fiberglass cows Cow No 23 whose sponsor was IRNERIO PRAHA s.r.o., was painted khaki and provided with five-pointed red stars and white numbers 23 on both flanks. This memorable cow was designed to evoke the Soviet tank pink No 23 memorial to the 144 000 soldiers of the Red Army who died during the liberation of Czechoslovakia. Designer intended to paint the cow publicly pink later on, but it didn’t happen as the cow was vandalized, during the night of June 8th, so severely beaten that the next day it was found with holes in it, that must have been done by some Young Communist League member.