S0 – S22: Stories and eras
P1 – P15: Politicians (eg. social democrat, civic democrat, other)
F1 – F33: Factories (chemistry, engineering, food, timber, other)
H1 – H27: Humans
R1 – R7: Relationships (of power, of positive nature, of negative nature)
G1 – G7: Transfers of goods, money, shares and information
I1 – I23: Info
While not being a traditional mafioso, his practices had always been in the shade of a grey zone, including contract traps, intrigues and influence on politicians, police and intelligence agents. Eventually he built an empire of over 250 companies (including German ones such as Lieken AG and SKW Piesteritz, the largest producer of urea and ammonia in Germany) and monopolized not just the fertilizers market chain but everything related to agriculture (engineering, food companies, biofuel). He owns more than 50% share of the bread products market of the Czech Republic. His rapeseed fields will ‘light up’ the whole Czech Republic in the summer.
Andrej Babiš, nicknamed the “Czech Donald Trump”, is since 2017, current Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, an agriculture, chemistry and fertilizers tycoon, owner of the most popular radio station, but also newspaper, TV station and several fertility clinics. At $4.6B, he is currently ranked #616 in the Forbes worldwide, and in fourth place in the Czech Republic. The largest demonstrations in 2019, with over 250,000 people, since the Velvet Revolution, took place in response to a misuse of EU Funds for his private farm and his ongoing connection to agro-chemical business.
The project attempts to visualize the key events, dating back to 1970s-80s when he worked as a delegate of several state-owned companies in Morocco (negotiating cheap phosphates purchase), through 1990s and 2000s when he gradually built his conglomerate Agrofert until the fall of the government of Petr Nečas, which started the “Era of Andrej Babiš”.
Collaborative project
Beech woodcuts, approx 50 pieces, print on canvas 100 x 300 cm
