The Slav Epic will return from Prague to South Moravia next year

Brno - The Slav Epic is set to return to Southern Moravia next year. The grand artistic work by Alfons Mucha will once again appear in the Moravský Krumlov castle, from where it was once taken to Prague. Since the current Prague coalition is inclined towards a long-term loan, Krumlov will adapt the exhibition space for the large-format canvases. They indeed require a stable climate. On the other hand, Prague has long lacked suitable spaces where the artwork could be made available to visitors.

The Břeclav castle will be undergoing renovation, with next year's costs expected to amount to 11 million. The restoration of the gardens beneath Pernštejn will be completed. Lednice, the most visited castle in Southern Moravia, will open a new visitor center in the Riding School.

In Brno, the Janáček Brno festival, dedicated mainly to the works of composer Leoš Janáček, will take place again after two years. The organizing National Theatre Brno is enticing the audience with productions by directors Robert Carsen and Claus Guth, as well as a concert by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. The festival will offer more original productions. "We emphasize our own productions and co-productions," said the theatre's director Martin Glaser earlier.

Conversely, the International Biennale of Graphic Design will not take place next year. The Moravian Gallery announced in August that it had postponed the 29th biennale to 2022. The reason is the renovation of the Museum of Applied Arts and insufficient financial backing. The cultural year 2020 in Southern Moravia will be enlivened by, for example, a concert by Sting in Slavkov or the band Whitesnake in Brno.

Brno will commemorate two significant anniversaries related to architecture next year. "The first is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Brno native Adolf Loos, one of the founders of modern architecture. The second is the 90th anniversary of the completion of the functionalist Tugendhat villa," stated councilor Marek Fišer (Pirates).

Construction of the Janáček cultural center could also begin, where the Brno Philharmonic will find a new home and will be able to perform all its concerts without restrictions.

Brno is also expecting major traffic projects. "We will start construction work on the new tram line to the university campus. This is the largest tram project in Brno in the last 20 years. The first people should be able to use it in 2022," noted the general director of the transport company Miloš Havránek. A two-year disruption, on the other hand, will affect passengers on the tram line from Komín to Pisárky starting in September due to the expansion of the parallel road to four lanes.

On the railway, passengers will enjoy new direct trains from Brno to Hustopeče starting in December, thanks to the completed electrification of the line from Šakvice to Hustopeče, and the long-delayed electrification of the line from Brno to Zastávka, which will now be double-tracked, will begin. People will no longer need to take buses, whose schedules are often disrupted by a blocked highway.

In Brno, construction will begin on another part of the large city ring road from Tomkovo náměstí to Rokytova Street under the Vinohrady housing estate. Once completed, this section should solve the usual traffic jams on Provazníková and Gajdošová streets.

From autumn onward, Southern Moravia will have new leadership. Regional elections will take place in October, and the leader of the ANO movement will no longer be the current governor Bohumil Šimek, but former Brno mayor and vice-chairman of the movement Petr Vokřál.