The extension of the House of Art in Ostrava may begin construction next year

Ostrava - The Council of the Moravian-Silesian Region wants to announce a tender in February, seeking a designer to complete the project for the port of the House of Art in Ostrava, known as the White Shadow. CTK was informed by Deputy Governor Lukáš Curylo (KDU-ČSL).

"The zoning decision has already been issued, so we are a step ahead of the Black Cube (the future seat of the Moravian-Silesian Scientific Library), but there is still no building permit. The building permit is currently only for demolition work that is directly related to the construction of the White Shadow," said Curylo.

The House of Art is home to the Gallery of Fine Arts, which has been waiting for the completion of the building for several years. The building from 1926 is inadequate for the needs of the gallery, and many works must be stored in a depository. "If everything goes well and a designer is selected so that the building permit is also completed for the actual construction, then the realization, including the beginning of demolition work, could start in August 2020," Curylo stated. Under ideal conditions, the construction should take about two years, and it should be completed in the autumn of 2022, with operations starting in early 2023.

"There will actually be an expansion of the existing space because today we essentially have 90 percent of the items the gallery owns in storage. The building should have two underground floors and seven above-ground floors. There should be 82 parking spaces. This should allow the gallery to organize thematic exhibitions and have a permanent exhibition," said Curylo.

According to him, the construction will cost around 600 million crowns, with costs similarly shared by the state, the region, and the city as in the construction of the new headquarters of the scientific library. "Co-financing based on the memorandum that was concluded is such that the Moravian-Silesian Region will pay 150 million crowns, the city of Ostrava 150 million crowns, and the Ministry of Culture 300 million crowns," stated Curylo.

The author of the White Shadow project is Josef Pleskot. The planning of the extension has been underway since around 2011, but there has been no funding for it.

The Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava is a contributory organization of the Moravian-Silesian Region. Its exhibitions and events are attended by over 100,000 people annually. The gallery's collections are continually expanding and include over 23,000 artistic items. The House of Art, where it is located, is a monument-protected building. With the quality of its collections, the gallery ranks among the five most significant collecting institutions in the Czech Republic.