The architect of the pavilion for Mucha's Epic is requesting assistance from the Minister of Culture

Pavilion for the Slav Epic (photo: www.czechartmodel.cz)

Prague - Co-author of the design for the new building for the Slav Epic of Alphonse Mucha, Jindřich Smetana, is asking for help from the Minister of Culture Václav Jehlička due to alleged delays in preparing its construction. In a letter received by ČTK today, he warns the minister that, according to him, Prague could lose the cycle of two dozen canvases in the future because of the non-fulfillment of the donation agreement.
    Mucha donated the epic to the capital city on the condition that a special building would be constructed for it. According to Smetana, the pavilion should be completed by the year 2010. That will mark the end of the legal seventy-year period since Mucha's death, which could affect the ownership of the paintings. Smetana wrote in the letter to the minister that he is concerned that "the city is underestimating the situation and that the non-fulfillment of the donation agreement is endangering the preservation of the epic in public ownership".
    Councilor Milan Richter (ODS) previously stated that legal opinions differ. According to him, the matter will only be resolved if the building stands in 2010. It must also be in accordance with Mucha's will, which had a clear idea about the building and the arrangement of the canvases, the councilor said.
    The city council already decided five years ago that the pavilion, according to the design of Smetana and Tomáš Kuklík, would be at the Exhibition Grounds. They proposed a modern building with a steel structure that would look like a box placed on its side. The paintings should have an ideal microclimate in the building.
    The proceedings for issuing the building permit have been halted. According to Smetana, there is a lack of consent from the city hall's property management department as the landowner. However, representatives of the tenant of the Exhibition Grounds, Incheba Praha, do not want such a building on the site. They find it disproportionately large. Smetana points out that the already tight construction schedule is threatened.
    Richter would like the canvases, which have been in the castle in Moravský Krumlov for several decades, to return to Prague by the end of this year or the beginning of next year. He suggests that they be temporarily housed in one of the Křižík pavilions. Incheba Praha reportedly agrees with this, but technical details need to be verified.