Riedlbauch has a committee for the selection of the director of the National Gallery

Prague - The Advisory Board of experts in the field of visual arts today proposed to the Minister of Culture the composition of a committee that should select a new director for the National Gallery in Prague. The ministry does not want to disclose their names yet, as it first intends to approach potential committee members. According to information from ČTK, among them are also names of foreign experts who are supposed to make up a third of the nine-member committee.
    "The selection process will be open, but potential candidates will also be invited to participate in the competition directly," Viktorie Plívová from the Ministry of Culture told ČTK. The aim of today’s second meeting between the minister and the experts was also to define the criteria for the competition and its timeline. The minister had previously stated that he would like to organize the competition while he is still in office as a member of the caretaker government.
    The current director of the NG, Milan Knížák, would like to lead the gallery until the end of next year, but according to his statements and those of the advisory board members, the minister wants to set the start of the new director sooner. However, the minister does not have to respect the recommendations of the future selection committee; this has happened several times in the cases of Riedlbauch's predecessors and similar competitions.
    For example, in the case of Milan Knížák, who was ranked third in the committee's recommendation, but the then-head of the ministry, Pavel Dostál, appointed him as the director of the NG in 1999. It is also not excluded that a potential new Minister of Culture may not respect Riedlbauch's decision - whatever it may be.
    The change in the leadership of the NG is related to the ministry's efforts to change the management concepts of its contributory organizations. Milan Knížák has been at the head of the NG for ten years, while some directors have been leading museums, galleries, and other state cultural institutions even longer. However, Knížák has faced the greatest criticism from parts of the professional public.