This is how Jiří Mládek, the biggest collector and Merkur expert, sums up the story of the construction set which has influenced whole generations of children since the days of the first Czechoslovakian Republic. Mládek is acting as curator of the exhibition, which is supported by the Merkur factory and is taking place in Prague City Museum, so it is guaranteed to differ from previous exhibitions.
Come and play
The exhibition features not only examples of old Merkur sets, but also new editions and sets that have been used in students’ projects, winning competitions all over the world and beating competitors from the USA, France, Britain and Japan. You can try it yourself at a big table where the makers have provided a whole range of Merkur components for visitors to use.
I, Merkur
The exhibition in Prague City Museum at Florenc is entitled “I, Merkur”. “The name was chosen intentionally. It paraphrases the title of the famous sci-fi novel by Isaac Asimov – I Robot. We wanted to show that Merkur has advanced into the robotic age, because anyone who works with Merkur can even build a robot, as you will see at the exhibition,” says museum director Zuzana Strnadová.
