The Eastern Bohemian Gallery Pardubice is beginning preparations for a move to new premises

Pardubice - The East Bohemian Gallery Pardubice is starting preparations for the move to new premises. It will have to transfer more than 19,300 collection items from the castle to a part of the renovated former Automatic Mills. During the holidays, students from the Faculty of Restoration at the University of Pardubice will prepare some works for transport, said the gallery's director, Klára Zářecká, to ČTK.

"We have been requesting transportation since the gallery does not have the means to relocate everything on its own. It will also be necessary to have quite high insurance for some of the works. Specialized transportation companies must take care of the transfer, even if it's just a short distance within Pardubice," Zářecká stated.

The completed building is expected to be handed over in September; currently, suppliers for furniture, interiors, and audiovisual equipment are being selected in the competition. After equipping the premises and ensuring their constant temperature and humidity, the collections will begin moving in next year for several months, and permanent and temporary exhibitions will be created. The gallery is expected to open in its new location in July 2023. Only after that will the staff move from the castle.

With the new location, the gallery will also change its name, to be named after architect Josef Gočár, who designed the Automatic Mills. At the same time, the overall visual style of the gallery will also transform.

The Automatic Mills, also known as the Winternitz Mills, which are a national cultural monument, were built in 1913 and later expanded. The operation of the mills ceased in 2013, and three years later, the complex was purchased by the Smetana couple, from whom the regional authority later bought part of it. The reconstruction for gallery purposes will cost approximately 400 million crowns, of which 130 million will be grants.

The East Bohemian Gallery was established in 1953 and has been an organization of the Pardubice Region since 2001. In addition to the exhibition spaces and storage at the castle, it also uses the House at Jonah on Pernštýnské Square for exhibitions.