The rector of AVU will be Jiří T. Kotalík

Prague - The new rector of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) will be art historian Jiří T. Kotalík starting from February next year. The academy's spokesperson Blanka Čermáková announced this today. Kotalík previously led the school for two terms from 1997 to 2003, after which Jiří Sopko took over for six years. The rector still needs to be appointed by the president.
    The academic senate elected Kotalík on Thursday with 16 votes out of 21; his only opponent was another academy educator, Jiří Příhoda. In his election program, Kotalík primarily declared his intention to maintain the quality standards of the academy, promote and preserve the specifics of high art schools, and innovate the structure and content of teaching according to students' needs.
    Only two candidates emerged from the proposals for rector, as it was required that each proposed candidate have at least 30 votes during the election. Following the announcement of their names, a wave of discussion advocating for more significant changes in the overall leadership of the academy arose, said Čermáková.
    The requested changes are intended to lead to a complete opening of the institution to the public, a rejuvenation of the teaching staff, and a need to align with current global artistic trends, including more intense collaboration with foreign art schools. These proposals have been submitted to the future rector for further consideration, the spokesperson added.
    Fifty-eight-year-old Kotalík worked in the 1970s at the Prague Centre for Heritage Care and Nature Protection, then from 1981 to 1984 at the Faculty of Arts, and in 1984 he joined AVU as an assistant in the Department of Theory of Art History. Since 2003, he has been the head of the department. In 2003 and 2004, he served as the general director of the National Heritage Institute.
    He is the author of many publications in the field of art history and architecture, especially from the Baroque period and the 19th and 20th centuries. He is also a member of various scientific and editorial boards, committees, advisory bodies, and non-profit organizations, including the minister of culture's council for science, the executive committee of the National Committee of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), and the chairman of the Association of Visual Artists Mánes.