Country, Plzeň and the ministry are preparing a memorandum on the construction of a gallery

Plzeň - The Plzeň Region, Plzeň, and the Ministry of Culture will sign a memorandum on financing the new building of the regional gallery of visual arts in Plzeň. Of the estimated costs of 820 million crowns, the state could cover 60 percent, but this is still conditional on the approval of the Ministry of Finance. CTK was informed today by the deputy governor Marcela Krejsová (ODS).

The planned gallery has had a building permit since last year, but the region lacks funds for it. According to Krejsová, the memorandum will be supported by the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic. Similar memoranda were previously signed by Brno and Ostrava for other large projects.

"The memorandum is one of the first and decisive steps. I have conducted several negotiations with the Association of Regions and the ministry, guided by the precedent of Brno, the South Moravian Region, and the Ministry of Culture, which last autumn approved the memorandum for the construction of the Janáček Cultural Centre in Brno," said Krejsová.

According to her, the ministry has had an investment program for several years to support regional cultural institutions. "However, it is not published anywhere since it is not endowed with any funds," the deputy governor added. She has spoken with the Minister of Culture, who, according to her, supported the path of the memorandum discussed in the councils of the region and the city. However, the signing of the memorandum is contingent upon a promise from the Ministry of Finance that they will provide funding for the program, she added.

Due to this, Krejsová negotiated with the Association of Regions, which, according to her, accepted that all regions need such support and that they will create pressure on the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry of Culture already has the draft memorandum from the Plzeň Region and will discuss it on Wednesday.

A similar memorandum was also signed by Ostrava and the Moravian-Silesian Region regarding a new library costing one billion crowns. "And they already have a written promise from the Minister (of Finance Andrej) Babiš," Krejsová noted.

The economic deputy from the Ministry of Culture has preliminarily promised the Plzeň Region to cover 60 percent of the costs. The ministry will soon ask the government for the fulfillment of the Program for the Development of the Material and Technical Base of Regional Cultural Institutions along with the Association of Regions. The state's share is expected to be 480 million crowns and could be released in four payments of 120 million crowns each from 2018 to 2022.

The entrance fee to the cramped spaces of the West Bohemian Gallery only covers one-tenth of its operating costs, which is considered insufficient by Governor Josef Bernard (ČSSD). "The project of the new gallery transcends the borders of our region," he stated. According to him, it would be a huge mistake not to take advantage of the potential state support and not to build the gallery. "I believe we will never get such an opportunity again in the future," the governor added.

The West Bohemian Gallery in Plzeň, specifically its exhibition hall at Masné krámy, could be used for regular exhibitions after the construction of the new gallery or, according to Krejsová, the region could transfer it free of charge to the city. Plzeň could establish a proposed market there, for example. The new gallery would host permanent exhibitions. Most collections are currently in storage, whereas the Plzeň gallery owns the second most valuable collection of interwar modern art after the National Gallery.