The exhibition at the Museum of Art in Olomouc will showcase sacred art from the totalitarian era

Olomouc - Czech sacred art from the period of 1948 to 1989, when a number of spiritual artistic works and projects were created in the country despite the communist dictatorship, will be presented at an exhibition in the Museum of Art in Olomouc. The exhibition titled Sacred Art in Unholy Times - Czech Sacred Art 1948 to 1989 will feature 170 works of art. The exhibition will run until April 9 of next year, the organizers told journalists before today's opening.

Co-author of the exhibition Šárka Belšíková said that works by artists such as Mikuláš Medek, Jan Exnar, Jan Jemelka, Ludvík Kolek, Otmar Oliva, Miroslav Rada, Miloslav Troup, and Vojmír Vokolek will be on display. The exhibition includes paintings, drawings, sculptures, and graphics, as well as models, architectural plans, stained glass, relics, candlesticks, and textile items.

Through architectural plans, drawings, and models, visitors will become acquainted with completed buildings as well as projects that could not be constructed. "Visitors will be able to view the plans of architects Jan Sokol, Jaroslav Čermák, Tomáš Černoušek, Lubomír Šlapeta, and others. In a special section, we will also present Czech artists based abroad - Jan Koblas, Zbyňek Sekal, Josef Symon, and Josef Šíma," Belšíková stated.

Glass artworks by Josef Šíma created for the Church of St. James in Reims, France, will also be featured. "There will also be something like a treasury with rare relics and other liturgical items," noted Belšíková. The exhibition will also recall the story of the design office Huť Jaroslava Čermáka, which designed several remarkable buildings and renovations of churches. One of them was the new build of a home for nuns along with the Chapel of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is still located in the Faculty Hospital in Olomouc. It now serves as a lecture hall.

"We will present the chapel through architectural plans that were traced in the archive of the National Technical Museum in Prague in the estate of architect Čermák. The public has not yet had the chance to see these plans, just like the design for the stained glass that adorns the chapel's anteroom, which has survived as the only piece from the rich decoration to this day," said co-author of the exhibition Ivo Binder.

Modern art created during the time of communist totality often arose for rural churches, primarily in Moravia, although this cannot be completely generalized according to Belšíková. "The completed projects are more closely related to the names of prominent clergy members who had the courage to advocate for new works despite the era and who were able to attract believers. Such a figure was, for example, the priest from Jedovnice, František Vavříček, or the still active priest Pavel Kuneš from Klecany near Prague, or Pavel Procházka currently working in the Šluknov parish," she added.

The visual art created for sacred interiors from 1948 to 1989 was significantly influenced by the political situation. The Museum of Art therefore requested the cooperation of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, which became a partner of the event and contributed to the publication of the exhibition catalog.