The NTM Plasy Building Heritage Centre joins this year’s European Heritage Days with a programme that commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pilsen native, traveller Miroslav Zikmund and follows the exhibition Filmmakers Hanzelka and Zikmund. Entrance to the exhibition, the exhibitions and all the accompanying programme is free on this day!

A lecture by the hydrobiologist, polar explorer and traveller Marie Bulínová, who discovered a new species of diatom on Vega Island in Antarctica and named it Hantzschia zikmundiana, will take you not only to Antarctica, but also to Mr. Zikmund’s study.

MARIE BULÍNOVÁ (4 February 1993) comes from Štichovice in the northern Pilsen region. She graduated in hydrobiology at the Department of Ecology at the Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, and her research has taken her to the least affected places on Earth – Spitsbergen, Greenland and especially Antarctica. She is passionate about photography, filming and flying drones, her favourite place being the Arctic Circle.

In 2017, when she discovered a new species of diatom while exploring Vega Island in Antarctica, she named it Hantzschia zikmundiana. “I am delighted to have met and talked to Mr. Zikmund through this opportunity,” says Marie. “With a smile, he called me ‘cub’ when we came to the conclusion that three quarters of a century separated us. Miroslav Zikmund is known to be a very meticulous person who likes to finish the job. In a way, he now has his own footprint in Antarctica, the last continent he has not yet visited.”

Raisins (Bacillariophyta) are some of the most common algae and the basis of almost every aquatic ecosystem in the world. These single-celled microorganisms are some of the most diverse creatures on the planet. They have species-specific requirements for aquatic environments and can therefore be used as indicator organisms to determine water quality. Like plants, they photosynthesise. They even make up about 20% of the oxygen produced on the planet.

The event is financially supported by the Pilsen Region (www.turisturaj.cz).