The exhibition will present the architecture of the Priores from the 1960s and 1970s

Prior in Olomouc

Prague - A exhibition will showcase fourteen of the most significant department store buildings from Czechoslovakia in the 1960s and 1970s at the Gallery of the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM). It will open to the public on Wednesday and run until March 19. Visitors will learn more about the most famous buildings like Kotva and Máj, as well as the Priors in Olomouc, Pardubice, and Plzeň. In addition to completed buildings, the exhibition will also focus on studies and designs that remained on paper.
    The exhibition is titled Kotvy Máje - Czech Department Stores 1965 to 1975. It will be accompanied by a publication with extensive visual documentation, which should be released in about two weeks.
    One of the project’s goals is to stimulate social debate about the buildings from the time of the communist regime, which are often unjustly condemned, according to the organizers. "That architecture corresponds to its time; there is no reason to condemn it," said Petr Klíma, the curator of the exhibition, to ČTK.
    The people of Olomouc have long expressed criticisms rather than recognition towards their Prior. They particularly object to its proximity to the Gothic Church of St. Moritz. "The building is not bad; it is a building of its time, it certainly isn't a building that deserves to be demolished," Klíma said. He added that it is necessary to distinguish between the architectural quality of the object itself and the external circumstances that influenced its later appearance. According to initial plans, for example, the Olomouc Prior was supposed to be smaller, and entirely different placement options were also considered.
    At the exhibition, it will be possible to view the original documentation of the buildings, their models, and photographs of the current appearance of the communist Priors. Some department stores have been modified, such as Máj in Prague, while others are planned for updates, for example in Olomouc.
    However, some department stores did not survive; only in images can one admire the now non-existent Liberec shopping center Ještěd, built according to the plans of the SIAL association. Ještěd had to give way in 2009 to the modern shopping center Fórum Liberec.
    The exhibition will also showcase some designs alongside completed buildings. This includes studies by architect Alena Šrámková for department stores in Prague at Pankrác and Karlovo náměstí, and the design of the Jihlava Prior by architect Růžena Žertová.
    In about two weeks, the exhibition organizers plan to launch a website as well. It should serve as a database of information and materials on the topic, or possibly as a virtual counterpart to the exhibition.