On the Stage of the World – J. A. Comenius and His Time

The team of architects from Horalík Ateliér and A77 created a new permanent exhibition of Jan Amos Komenský at the Museum in Uherský Brod, on the occasion of the 430th anniversary of his birth.

Light has the power to drive away darkness, not the other way around.
The visual concept is based on the simplicity of contrast between the old and the new, black and white. The exhibition had to contend with the unpredictable intricacies of the building, originally part of the baroque fortifications of the city. The maze of variously spacious and high rooms intersected by staircases has been clarified by the creators with clear boundaries between the historical building and the exhibition elements.

Essentially, what is new is black. The dark color evokes the gloomy course of Komenský's life (emigration, the destruction of his life's work in a fire, family tragedies) and creates a contrast with the historical building of the Museum, which is left in white. We enter the exhibition through a black tunnel and walk its interior around stops (white booths protruding on both sides) that do not map Komenský's life chronologically but focus on his overall legacy, the context of the era, and the significance of his ideas for humanity. There are also interactive elements for children and adults. The most dramatic place in this part of the exhibition is the audio-visual installation depicting the fire in Lešná. The creators used a historical press, which had to remain in the space, as a projection surface for the city's fire, placed charred books inside it, and added dimension to the entire space by placing a large-scale mirror.

The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart, that is, confusion and entanglement, whirling and toiling…
The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to Komenský's life, while the second focuses on Komenský's relationship with faith. In the original defensive tower, there is an exhibition about Komenský's most famous book "The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart." The black room is dominated by a white 3D model of the Labyrinth of the World, created based on Komenský's sketches. Scenes from the book are projected onto the model from four projectors: the journey of the Pilgrim, to whom the City (World) initially appears beautiful, but upon closer examination, he recognizes all its misery. He finds redemption in his Heart, where God speaks to him.

The goal of education and wisdom is for a person to see a clear path of life ahead of them.
In the final part of the exhibition, the visitor can soothe their "almost bottomless depth of the human mind." The creators dedicated it to Komenský's thoughts and work. The section dedicated to books is divided into three interconnected rooms dedicated to his pedagogical, theological, and philosophical works. There is also a detour to the "printing workshop," where visitors can set their own print on a postcard or bookmark. The last part is dedicated to the thinker's legacy; it shows various interpretations of his work or how Komenský is reflected in humor. The temporal dimension of the future is also visually distinct here – we find ourselves in an environment with futuristic metallic cladding, where above our heads we see a model of the Solar System, including the asteroid "Komensky," discovered in 1970.