The renovated Mánes is set to open to the public this summer

Prague - The Mánes Exhibition Hall is after reconstruction, and the opening of the entire building is still awaiting the approval of the restaurant. Mánes is expected to open to the public in the summer, said Dagmar Baběrádová, director of the Foundation for Czech Visual Arts, which owns the functionalist monument, to ČTK. Currently, the foundation's board is also changing, which has been criticized by part of the art community for a long time. Some of the critics ran for the board through the Skutek association, but none of them were elected.
    The foundation is facing criticism for the way it manages its assets. According to those who formed its shadow board, the foundation insufficiently represents the art scene, and its board is not elected transparently. The foundation rejects these accusations. Its chairman, Petr Siegl, whose term is ending, stated that critics can also run for the board through the association. That has now happened, but none of the five candidates from the Skutek association were elected.
    It is unclear who was elected. Baběrádová told ČTK that the board's leadership will be elected at its first meeting on May 20; afterward, the names will be announced. This is disputed by the chairman of the Skutek association, Jiří Ptáček. "If associations were allowed to nominate their candidates, they also have the right to know who was the best and succeeded. It is clear that the foundation cannot shake off the practices of secrecy. It shows again what a non-transparent institution it is," Ptáček told ČTK.
    The candidates from the association were representatives of the shadow board, which was elected last year by supporters of the Mánes initiative for artists - artist Isabela Grosseová, photographer Jiří Thýn, art historians Johana Lomová and Marcel Fišer, and architectural historian Rostislav Koryčánek. "By not electing any of the candidates, the foundation has demonstrated a lack of interest in the opinions of a large part of artists, critics, and supporters of Czech art. The NČVU is becoming a completely unreliable representative of the Czech visual community," says Koryčánek.
    The shadow board also criticized the fact that last year the foundation temporarily transferred the Mánes building to the company Apella fine arts, which it established in 2009. The transfer of foundation property was a condition for obtaining a loan that the foundation wanted for the reconstruction of Mánes; critics feared that the foundation was intentionally incurring debt with the aim of declaring insolvency. The foundation now states that the Mánes building will be transferred back to the foundation as its property.
    The newly approved main hall is now being rented out short-term for commercial purposes because it has to pay off the reconstruction. For example, at the end of April, there was a fashion show in Mánes, and in early May, a Ferrari California T was showcased there. According to Baběrádová, the first exhibition after the renovation will be by Ivan Steiger at the end of May. The restaurant is still awaiting approval.
    Siegl previously told ČTK that artists are interested in exhibiting in the traditional Prague gallery space, but according to him, it will be necessary for them to financially contribute to its operation, for example, with sponsorship support. The foundation will be responsible for the composition of the exhibition program.