Budoucnost je skryta v přítomnosti - výstava v Galerii UM
Architektura a česká politika 1948-89
One of the emphasized themes of the era of socialist Czechoslovakia was housing construction. The exhibition "The Future is Hidden in the Present. Architecture and Czech Politics 1948-89" addresses not only this issue.
The exhibition project demonstrates how seemingly unrelated fields, such as architecture and politics, are closely interconnected. A specific example of this relationship is the phenomenon of socialist construction, which emerged from the interaction of state interests, architectural practice, and public needs. The curator Michaela Janečková seeks to find symbiosis as well as friction points within this coexistence. She observes themes typical of the period, such as the practices of state studios, the production of materials in the socialist construction sector, cooperation with artists, cooperatives, and the promotion of housing construction.
“No one wanted complaints, criticism, or God forbid, protests about the lack of apartments or that people did not have shops, cinemas, and kindergartens in housing estates. Architecture was created within this triangle of interests, sometimes mutually compatible and at other times creating friction points. For example, the state wanted to control construction and distribution of apartments but did not have the money for it, so it pushed architects towards cheaper, standardized solutions. At the same time, it utilized the efforts of private builders, who built their homes with their own money and happily did so. Such individuals were offered financial and other assistance with construction, and even allowed and supported cooperative building,” the curator of the exhibition explains the issues.
The relations between the different groups are captured by the installation itself. The exhibits are arranged in mutual interactions, which clarify the entire complex mechanism for the visitor. How the state informed and agitated its citizens, what the offerings and possibilities of construction were, how it approached construction, urbanism, and it does not forget to mention the significant influence of art in architecture. This is evidenced by photographs, videos, promotional materials, as well as critical posters regarding construction, catalogs of houses, and artifacts, such as the very frequently used cabrin cladding. The exhibits themselves are accompanied by extended labels that tell a story, thematizing certain aspects of the relationship between architects, the state, and the public.
The exhibition "The Future is Hidden in the Present" aims to demonstrate aspects of the mechanisms that influenced the construction of that time within the triangle of state policy, architects, and society through selected exhibits.
Curator of the exhibition: Michaela Janečková
Concept of the exhibition: Michaela Janečková, Veronika Rollová
Architectural design: RCNKSK architects
Graphic design: Tereza Hejmová, Kristýna Žáčková
Production: Ditta Pfefferová
The exhibition represents one of the outcomes of the research project "Architecture and Czech Politics in the 19th-21st Century" at the Department of Theory and History of Art at the AAAD in Prague. The project was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic within the framework of the Applied Research and Development Program of National and Cultural Identity NAKI II (DG18P02OVV041).
The exhibition project demonstrates how seemingly unrelated fields, such as architecture and politics, are closely interconnected. A specific example of this relationship is the phenomenon of socialist construction, which emerged from the interaction of state interests, architectural practice, and public needs. The curator Michaela Janečková seeks to find symbiosis as well as friction points within this coexistence. She observes themes typical of the period, such as the practices of state studios, the production of materials in the socialist construction sector, cooperation with artists, cooperatives, and the promotion of housing construction.
“No one wanted complaints, criticism, or God forbid, protests about the lack of apartments or that people did not have shops, cinemas, and kindergartens in housing estates. Architecture was created within this triangle of interests, sometimes mutually compatible and at other times creating friction points. For example, the state wanted to control construction and distribution of apartments but did not have the money for it, so it pushed architects towards cheaper, standardized solutions. At the same time, it utilized the efforts of private builders, who built their homes with their own money and happily did so. Such individuals were offered financial and other assistance with construction, and even allowed and supported cooperative building,” the curator of the exhibition explains the issues.
The relations between the different groups are captured by the installation itself. The exhibits are arranged in mutual interactions, which clarify the entire complex mechanism for the visitor. How the state informed and agitated its citizens, what the offerings and possibilities of construction were, how it approached construction, urbanism, and it does not forget to mention the significant influence of art in architecture. This is evidenced by photographs, videos, promotional materials, as well as critical posters regarding construction, catalogs of houses, and artifacts, such as the very frequently used cabrin cladding. The exhibits themselves are accompanied by extended labels that tell a story, thematizing certain aspects of the relationship between architects, the state, and the public.
The exhibition "The Future is Hidden in the Present" aims to demonstrate aspects of the mechanisms that influenced the construction of that time within the triangle of state policy, architects, and society through selected exhibits.
Curator of the exhibition: Michaela Janečková
Concept of the exhibition: Michaela Janečková, Veronika Rollová
Architectural design: RCNKSK architects
Graphic design: Tereza Hejmová, Kristýna Žáčková
Production: Ditta Pfefferová
The exhibition represents one of the outcomes of the research project "Architecture and Czech Politics in the 19th-21st Century" at the Department of Theory and History of Art at the AAAD in Prague. The project was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic within the framework of the Applied Research and Development Program of National and Cultural Identity NAKI II (DG18P02OVV041).
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