Over 90 artists in a public call demand changes at AVU and the National Gallery

Prague – Over 90 artists are calling for changes in the leadership of the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU), the National Gallery (NG), and the awarding of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award in a public appeal. In a statement sent today by the artists to ČTK, they demand the resignation of AVU Rector Mária Topolčanská. They are also calling for an analysis of the functioning and restructuring of AVU and the National Gallery. They are concerned about the theme of the Czech pavilion at the Venice Biennale, where the main work, "The Heart of the Giraffe in Captivity," is twelve kilograms lighter than that of Eva Koťátková. The appeal has been signed by dozens of artists, including Milan Knížák, Jaroslav Róna, David Černý, Jan Svěrák, and Josef Pleskot. ČTK is seeking a statement from AVU. According to the director of the National Gallery in Prague, Alicja Knastová, the project for the Biennale was selected by an expert jury from more than 20 proposals and she had no influence over the selection herself.

"The current AVU resigns its educational mission as a higher education institution in favor of new short-lived ideologies and activist tendencies relevant to the times. The current leadership of AVU evokes distrust in the public space," the statement reads. "AVU is not leading young people to their own artistic expression now, but to team activism," added the authors who are demanding the rector's resignation. They cited the recent artistic performance by Kateřina Olivová, who threw soil naked to the sound of techno music in front of the AVU building. "This person did not attain the leading position of the studio by winning a selection process, but without a competition, as the then-rector Tomáš Vaněk exercised his right of veto and sidelined the commission's chosen winner, Zbyněk Baladrán," the authors of the letter wrote.

The artists criticize the National Gallery for the Czech project at the Venice Biennale. "The entire institution (Knastová) is dragging into insignificance and cites the most fleeting current ideologies. Practically, this means that at the Biennale in Venice, the story presented is of a giraffe brought from Kenya at a time when communists were executing Milada Horáková and others," the artists wrote. Knastová stated that she had no influence over the project selection, as it was chosen by an expert jury. She added that she believes it is partially a generational dispute, as the signatories of the letter are from a different generation than the author Koťátková.

The letter also addresses changes in the awarding of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award, which was an accolade for artists under 35 years of age. The group of artists objects to the fact that the award has become non-competitive, where all finalists win, and that the age limit for the awarded has been abolished.

Deník N reported today that 23 members of the expert councils of the National Gallery in Prague have resigned, as they are dissatisfied with Knastová's actions. They criticize her, for instance, for not providing free admission to the permanent exhibitions of the gallery for students of art history departments. Knastová told ČTK that they are working on establishing free admission through negotiating memoranda with universities. "We perceive free admission for students of selected fields as a service we are happy to provide. However, it must respect the findings of the Supreme Audit Office from 2022, which pointed out that providing free admissions is not possible without further justification, as it would involve an inappropriate handling of state financial resources," said the director.