This year, the regular meeting of gallery professionals took place in a slightly unconventional way at two places – in the Gočár Gallery in Pardubice and in the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region (GASK) in Kutná Hora.

The Gallery Council of the Czech Republic is defined as "a professional union of Czech art museums – galleries, which brings together for the purpose of coordinating their activities in the creation, management, and protection and publication of art collections as an inalienable part of the national cultural heritage". It consists of the Chamber of Directors, the Chamber of Professional Workers and the Chamber of Educational Workers.

Of course, our gallery is also a member, represented by our director Daniel Novák, curator Jana Bojanovská and educator Pavlína Pitrová. However, on the same date, Mr. Director participated in the workshop Active attacker in the environment of museums and galleries, which was organized by the Methodological Center of the National Gallery, so he sent a replacement for himself – me, his assistant and the gallery's PR. :-)

Each meeting includes important administrative actions such as elections to individual committees, a report on the activities of the Council, updates of members of individual chambers or grant projects of the Council.

The next part is then devoted to the presentation of interesting projects that the galleries are preparing or have completed, for example, and thus share their experience. This year's common theme was renovation. The director of the Gočár Gallery, Klára Zářecká, presented the transformation of the Automatic Mills building, specifically the premises in which the Gočár Gallery currently resides. This was followed by a contribution by the director of the Klatovy – Klenová Gallery, Hana Kristová, about the reconstruction of the former farm building into a depository of collection items. In another presentation, Aleš Seifert, the director of Aleš South Bohemian Gallery, presented the plan to build a new building in the center of České Budějovice, where the gallery should move from Hluboká nad Vltavou, where it is currently located, in the coming years. With the last post, we went to Olomouc. Director of the Olomouc Museum of Art Ondřej Zatloukal presented the project of the Olomouc Central European Forum (SEFO).

All the presentations were very interesting, and very relevant for our gallery, which is only at the beginning of an extensive renovation.

The voting and presentations were followed by a relaxation part – a tour not only of Gočár Gallery, but also of other institutions in the Automatic Mills facility. At the GG, we had the opportunity to view the permanent exhibition Transmission, as well as the current exhibition Karel Malich: Me and the One I Meet, which my colleagues and I were very much looking forward to. And we left completely excited! The director, Klára Zářecká, also took us to the Sféra educational center, to the GAMPA gallery, and we also had the opportunity to see Silo, where the AM Foundation is based. The whole evening was then finished with an informal meeting for all participants of the assembly in the lounge of a local hotel.

The Thursday program of the Assembly then took us a few tens of kilometers further, to Kutná Hora, specifically to the Gallery of the Central Bohemian Region, where the symposium GASK 1964–2024: Continuity in spite of was held, which mapped the activity of the gallery in its current premises. The program included presentations dealing with the history of the institution, exhibition dramaturgy, but also the development of the teaching center. As part of the symposium, we also had the opportunity to take part in a guided tour of the new permanent exhibition called Through the Labyrinth, or the current exhibition Here we go... Vratislav Nechleba (1885–1965) Verist in the trap of modernism.

The two days of the Council of Galleries Assembly were completely packed and we took away not only a lot of new food for thought, but also inspiring experiences.

See you in a year...

Jana Jarošová, November 8, 2024