Czech manufacturer of high-end carbon bike frames FESTKA, renowned for its unique production technology, original designs and daring collaborations with artists. It offers a top-level package of design and customer service called You By Festka.
The latest project in this category is the third bike made in collaboration with illustrator Michal Bačák, inspired by motifs from Franz Kafka’s books.
When approached by a client from New York who wanted a Franz Kafka-themed bike, everyone’s ears at Festka immediately perked up. “For a company so intrinsically linked with Prague as was Kafka, it made perfect sense,” says Tom Hnida, the company’s art director.
“When it turned out that Lyndon, the client, adored Kafka’s work, knew it front to back, and had a very serious interest in a new bike, excitement began to build in the Festka team. Lyndon had a list of scenes and ideas from Kafka’s books that he wanted to have depicted on the bike frame. The two stories he liked most were those of the Hunger Artist and The Emperor’s Message. For further inspiration, he selected a number of quotes from Kafka’s notebooks, and he provided some hints on how he imagined the visuals.”
“After some consideration, Festka’s art director Tom Hnida approached the immensely talented illustrator Michal Bačák who worked with Festka in 2019 and 2020 on two hugely successful projects – the Porcelain Bike and the Samurai. Michal absolutely loved Lyndon’s ideas and accepted the commission immediately. As the kind of person who doesn’t do things half-way, Michal read all of Kafka’s works and suggested three additional scenes from the author’s short stories. He put together an impressive proposal which convinced Lyndon straight away that he, Mr. Bačák, was the right man for the job. Michal’s ability to tell stories through drawings is nothing short of amazing and the fact that his unmistakable style is so pleasing to the eye is an added bonus.”
“Everything flows and no man ever enters the same river twice. This bike, the third one I have illustrated for Festka, was the biggest challenge of them all. From the moment Tom came to my studio and told me what the customer wanted, the river swelled to a flood of biblical proportions. It wasn’t so much the technique or colour scheme but the content. Me transferring bits from Kafka’s unique universe onto a bicycle! I don’t think I could say I came to understand fully this literary genius, but I believe I got closer to him through reinterpreting, in my own way, several truly Kafkaesque scenes from his work,” says Michal Bačák.
“The model Lyndon chose for this amazing project is a custom geometry Festka Scalatore built with a wireless Sram Red eTap groupset, an ENVE cockpit, and ENVE SES wheels.” More of this bike at Festka’s Journal Link.
The Sketches behind this Bike
