KUNSTHALLE PRAHA.
CREATING A NEW
OPEN SPACE
FOR CZECH
AND INTERNATIONAL ART
PROJECTED
OPENING
DATE
SPRING 2021
CONVERSION OF THE ZENGER TRANSFORMER SUBSTATION BUILDING
Kunsthalle Praha is a newly emerging space for art and culture in Prague’s historical centre. It will offer visitors a wide range of exhibitions and educational projects, cultural events and social activities. Kunsthalle Praha’s mission is to contribute to a deeper understanding of Czech and international art of the 20th and 21st centuries and to communicate this with a dynamic, contemporary programme to a broad public.
CURRENTLY:
FROM 8 JUNE TO 30 SEPTEMBER 2018
SITE-SPECIFIC PROJECTS BY ANTONIS PITTAS AND FELD72
AS A PART OF M3 / ART IN SPACE FESTIVAL
The second edition of the m3 / Art in Space festival uses the theme “VICE VERSA: Our Earth Is Their Moon, Our Moon Is Their Earth” to explore a variety of issues relating to Prague 1. The façade of the future Kunsthalle Praha building at Klárov has become a platform for the work of the Greek artist Antonis Pittas.
Kunsthalle Praha became the general partner of the m3 / Art in Space festival particularly due to their joint effort to make art accessible to the general public. This year’s focus of the festival on Prague 1 also includes the location of the future Kunsthalle Praha building, which will be created from the former Zenger transformer substation at Klárov. The Greek artist Antonis Pittas has selected the façade of this building for his textual artwork I Will Close My Eyes and Put My Finger on the Map (2018). Meanwhile, across the street in the park under the Old Castle Stairs, the Viennese architectural studio feld72 presents its proposals for redeveloping this unheeded public space.
PAST EVENTS:
30 SEPTEMBER 2017
TRANSFORMACE – PEŠÁNEK / DÍAZ
As a part of the Architecture Day programme, we presented the history of the former Zenger transformer substation and the story of the kinetic sculptures that were meant to decorate its facade.
Did you know that light-kinetic sculptures by the famous sculptor Zdeněk Pešánek were intended to decorate the facade of the building’s classic modern architecture? Although they were awarded a medal at the international exhibition of art and technology in Paris in 1937 they were never installed on the building, and the objects themselves were not preserved.
Through the project TransFormace the sculptures were finally installed in virtual form projected on the building; the artistic and technological preparation was undertaken by contemporary multimedia artist Federico Diaz, who prepared the project based on models of the statues stored at the National Gallery in Prague. The project was accompanied by a lecture from architecture historian Vendula Hnídková.
NEWS
KUNSTHALLE PRAHA IS LOOKING FOR A NEW COLLEAGUE FOR THE POSITION PRODUCTION MANAGER
Kunsthalle Praha seeks an experienced Production Manager to support the production of exhibitions, installations, special projects and events organized by Kunsthalle Praha. Reporting to the Head of Exhibitions, the successful candidate coordinates the planning, management and execution of complex visual art exhibitions, projects, events and related efforts.
KUNSTHALLE PRAHA IS THE GENERAL PARTNER FOR THE M3 / ART IN SPACE FESTIVAL
The second edition of the m3 / Art in Space festival uses the theme “VICE VERSA: Our Earth Is Their Moon, Our Moon Is Their Earth”, to explore a variety of issues relating to Prague 1. The façade of the future Kunsthalle Praha building at Klárov has become a platform for the work of the Greek artist Antonis Pittas.
KUNSTHALLE PRAHA ENRICHES ITS COLLECTIONS WITH WORKS BY AVU GRADUATE ARGIŠT ALAVERDYAN
Several paintings by Prague Academy of Fine Arts graduate Argišt Alaverdyan, from the exhibition New Wave: AVU Graduates 2017 at the National Gallery in Prague, have been selected for the project AVU Graduation Works Collection. The project, supported by The Pudil Family Foundation, aims to build up a sub-collection of Kunsthalle Praha mapping, on a long-term basis, the work of graduates from the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) as well as other schools, and support the further creative output of selected artists.
TRANSFORMACE - PEŠÁNEK / DÍAZ
A visionary, that's what a creator whose thoughts were ahead of technologies of his time is a posteriori called. Zdeněk Pešánek surely belongs to this category of artists. His light-kinetic sculptures designed for the public space in the 20s and 30s of the previous century were created only at a cost of a complex, tedious and never totally satisfying work. Though to make his multimedia assemblies, Zdeněk Pešánek was using the most innovative elements and materials of the time: celluloid, light bulbs and neons.
