The Czech Budweis House of Art will present four exhibitions next year

České Budějovice – Next year there will be only four exhibitions at the House of Art in České Budějovice, which houses the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture. Usually, there are eight. The curator of the exhibitions, Michal Škoda, had expected that the city would begin reconstructing the building. However, the city council postponed the repairs and will allocate funds for other projects. According to Škoda, the condition of the building is inadequate and needs repairs. The House of Art was also part of the concept for České Budějovice as the European Capital of Culture 2028 and was supposed to undergo reconstruction for that reason. Since this will not happen, Škoda does not want to act as the curator of exhibitions at the House of Art in 2026. He stated this to ČTK.

"That's why there were six exhibitions this year and only four next year; the exhibitions were supposed to run until June. If there are no repairs, I might prepare one more after the summer, but that's rushed; I don't know if it can be arranged and prepared in time, although I have an idea of whom I would invite; it should be someone from the architects,” Škoda said, but did not provide a name.

According to Deputy Mayor Petr Maroš (ODS), the reconstruction would cost 150 million crowns, and the approved city budget for next year does not include this investment. "Let's rather reconstruct the summer cinema Háječek, because we don't have any other outdoor stage; we have several indoor ones, and we are repairing quite a few of them. Currently, the cultural house Slavie is financially draining us a lot, and it is becoming more expensive, so there are currently no funds left for the House of Art,” Maroš added.

The first exhibition at the House of Art in the new year will feature the work of glass artist Láda Semecká starting January 8. "She will be the first solely glass artist. While glass has appeared in our exhibitions, it has been part of other sculptural materials,” Škoda said. Following her, in February, will be an exhibition featuring another sculptor, representative of contemporary sculpture, Danish artist Tove Storch. A trio of Japanese artists will follow, and the fourth will be the Swiss architectural studio E2A architects.

Michal Škoda has been serving as a curator of the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture for 26 years. This year he received the award from the Czech Academy of Visual Arts, which named the House of Art Institution of the Year 2023. "As part of the awards, we also made it to the finals for the foreign architectural exhibition and in the exhibition of the year category, but the nominations did not convert,” Škoda added. Škoda also received accolades for his contributions in the Architect of the Year 2016 competition and for exceptional achievement in the Czech Architecture Award 2017.

From this year's exhibitions, Škoda highlighted the exhibition of Swiss architect Roger Boltshauser and his work. "He focuses a lot on sustainability and seeks various ways to make buildings self-sufficient, but not at the expense of the quality of architecture, whether visually or functionally. And he is one of the few architects who systematically addresses the use of rammed earth, which is discussed as the material of the future,” Škoda said. He also pointed out the last exhibition of the year by the architectural studio Norrön from Copenhagen, which connects architecture with landscape.

The exhibitions of the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture are visited by over 10,000 people each year. Of these, about 3,000 are children, including schools that attend educational programs. The city of České Budějovice, as the operator of the House of Art, allocated 1.25 million crowns for the operation of the gallery this year, 60 percent more than last year.