Heritage enthusiasts are looking for new equipment for the baroque chapel of Kladruby Monastery in the competition

Kladruby - The baroque convent chapel of the monastery in Kladruby, Tachov region, is set to receive new interior furnishings for church, intimate social, and cultural events. The National Heritage Institute (NPÚ) has announced an artistic competition for the design and realization of the furniture. The devastated and currently inaccessible chapel will be restored by heritage conservationists. The new furnishings should respect history while also incorporating elements of contemporary art. The cost of producing the furniture is 1.35 million crowns excluding VAT, and proposals for the competition can be submitted until April 20. The entire restoration of the chapel is expected to be completed by the end of June 2028, said Markéta Slabová, spokesperson for the NPÚ in České Budějovice, to ČTK.

The competition aims to produce designs for an altar table, a Latin cross, a mobile ambo (the place where the Bible is read during mass), and a sedes (the seat from which the priest conducts the service), as well as lighting elements and pews for 50 people. After the restoration is completed, the chapel will be consecrated again and made accessible to visitors and spiritual pilgrims. Therefore, the design must respond to the liturgical requirements of the Benedictine tradition while also addressing the needs of the public.

Heritage conservationists continue the reconstruction of the area in Kladruby as part of the project Life in Order II. In 2023, a more than two-year-long reconstruction costing 165 million crowns, co-financed by the EU, was completed there. The second phase is also expected to be supported by European grants.

"The restoration of the convent chapel in Kladruby is an important step towards restoring its spiritual and social significance. We want a contemporary layer of art to be sensitively integrated into the historical space, respecting its memory while also opening it up to today's visitors," said Petr Pavelec, director of the regional heritage administration of NPÚ in České Budějovice.

The condition of the interior of the 18th-century chapel, which spans two floors in the northwestern corner of the convent building, is partially in a state of emergency. "Insufficient maintenance, secondary constructions, other insensitive interventions throughout the 20th century, and weather influences have significantly damaged the chapel. The original baroque painting has only survived in fragments, and the furniture has not been preserved," Slabová stated. Heritage conservationists want to retain traces of the 19th and 20th-century modifications alongside the reconstructed baroque elements. For example, after the monastery was dissolved in 1785, apartments for employees of the Windischgrätz brewery were created in the chapel. The new furnishings will be the first representative of contemporary art in the monastery.

"We are looking for a strong and thoughtful whole, not just individual solitary pieces. The furniture should be visually attractive, contemporary, and unique, while also respectfully responding to the architecture and spiritual significance of the chapel. The design should connect the meditative character of the chapel with the needs of the 21st century, keeping in mind that it is a publicly accessible national cultural monument. We want a solution that stands up not only here in Kladruby but also in the broader context of contemporary art and design," summarized monastery administrator Milan Zoubek.