The Museum of Applied Arts will begin constructing a new depository

Prague - The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (UPM) is expecting significant changes that will enhance its operations in the coming years. The new depository, which will be established in Stodůlky, will free up the main building by the Vltava River for exhibitions and offer further opportunities to view its treasures. The museum has around half a million items in its collections, including photographs, graphics, and other documents; only a fraction of this amount is on display. Up to 80,000 people visit the UPM each year, 60 percent of whom come from abroad.
"As part of the state's plan to preserve national cultural treasures, the Ministry of Finance has freed up 400 million crowns for us. A new depository will be created in Stodůlky, where we have already purchased the land. The construction will be followed by the renovation of the museum building," said the museum's director Helena Koenigsmarková to ČTK.
According to her, selection procedures will take place this year, and a project will be chosen. "Construction should begin next year, and it is expected to be completed by 2012. This will be followed by the freeing up of the main building, which will present itself in a new form in 2015," added the director. She believes that the current financial crisis will not hinder the plan since the funds are allocated for a specific project.
"This is a great opportunity to obtain adequate exhibition space after a hundred years," added the director. Ideally, according to her, the second floor of the main building would also become a large exhibition area. The new depository will reportedly not be closed to the public; it will have exhibition spaces alongside study depositories and will enrich the cultural offerings in this large urban agglomeration.
The Museum of Decorative Arts has been collaborating with other institutions in exhibition activities for years and complements their exhibitions with its exhibits. "It is good when the image of art from a particular period is enriched by materials that are the subject of our professional activity," Koenigsmarková explained in relation to the latest project. The museum's exhibits recently supplemented an exhibition of Czech Baroque art at the National Gallery, which was opened last year, with a separate section dedicated to the artistic craftsmanship of the Central European cultural space. This has been installed in the attractive environment of the reconstructed vaulted halls of the basement of the Schwarzenberg Palace in Hradčanské Square.
"Last summer, we similarly supplemented the 19th-century exhibition at the Jiřský Monastery, and we are also involved in the planned reinstallation of collections in the Trade Fair Palace," she added.
UPM has been struggling for many decades with a lack of space for presentation as well as appropriate storage of its collections. It prepares about three exhibitions each year and lends exhibits for approximately 70 exhibitions both domestically and abroad. "In 1998, the situation was eased by the castle in Kamenice nad Lipou, which we acquired for our collections and opened four years ago. In addition to a study depository for 20th-century furniture, visitors will find an exhibition on blacksmithing and toys there," Koenigsmarková added.