<ORNAMENT A MODERNA>

On Friday, June 27, 2008, as part of the Museum Night in Brtnice, in the barn of the Museum of Josef Hoffmann, a joint exhibition by the Moravian Gallery and the Museum of Applied and Contemporary Art MAK in Vienna will open the traveling exhibition "ORNAMENT AND MODERNITY. Josef Hoffmann 1870–1956. Architect and Designer".
On panels reaching up to the ceiling, the life and work of Josef Hoffmann will be presented. This illustrative display includes over 200 period photographs from the collection of the MAK museum, closely follows the biography of architect and designer Josef Hoffmann, and showcases his work. The panels carefully document Hoffmann's artistic development, and numerous detailed pieces of information illuminate various areas of his creations.
The first panels are dedicated to the youth and education of Josef Hoffmann, followed by stops at his buildings in Vienna, such as the villas on Vienna's Hohe Warte, the key building of the sanatorium in Purkersdorf, and the Stoclet Palace in Brussels. Numerous illustrations evidence Hoffmann's activity at both World Exhibitions in Paris and his role as a co-founder of the artisan workshops Wiener Werkstätte and their programmatic aesthetics. The visual section presents, for the first time, images from the studios and workshops of Wiener Werkstätte, snapshots from the period of collaboration with Fritz Waerndorfer and Koloman Moser, Hoffmann's partners in Wiener Werkstätte, and photographs from the interiors of private residences that were shaped by Wiener Werkstätte. The last panels are devoted to Hoffmann's late work and his influence on architects and theorists of postmodernism.

After Brtnice, the traveling exhibition will visit Brno, Znojmo, Olomouc, Hradec Králové, Prague, and other places in the country. The exhibition was created as a cooperative project of the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the Museum of Applied and Contemporary Art MAK in Vienna, and the Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague.

After the exhibition "JOSEF HOFFMANN – DONALD JUDD: Hypothesis," which was successfully opened in early June 2008 in the exhibition rooms of the Josef Hoffmann Birth House, this traveling exhibition is the second project being presented this year in Brtnice. The exhibition "JOSEF HOFFMANN – DONALD JUDD: Hypothesis" focuses on the works of the exceptional American artist Donald Judd (1928-1994); it offers for comparison furniture, detailed designs, and photographs of Donald Judd and Josef Hoffmann. The exhibition is open until October 26.

The Josef Hoffmann Birth House in Brtnice has been managed since early 2006 as a joint exhibition venue of the Moravian Gallery in Brno and the Museum of Applied and Contemporary Art MAK in Vienna. Thanks to joint activities, Brtnice has transformed into a competence center for research focused on the work of Josef Hoffmann.

Museum Night in Brtnice takes place on June 27, 2008, from 7:00 PM to midnight. The Museum of Josef Hoffmann offers a diverse program for the whole family, admission is free.

Program:
7:00 PM – lecture on the exhibition "JOSEF HOFFMANN – DONALD JUDD: Hypothesis"
10:00 PM, 11:00 PM – guided nighttime tours of the permanent exhibition and the exhibition "JOSEF HOFFMANN – DONALD JUDD: Hypothesis"
from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM – creative workshop for children and adults
9:30 PM – fashion show of student works from the Art School Jihlava-Helenín
10:30 PM – fashion show of costume designs from the work "Dialogue of Forms"
from 7:00 PM to midnight – music and dance entertainment
from 7:00 PM to midnight – opportunity to view the exhibition "Ornament and Modernity. Josef Hoffmann 1870–1956. Architect and Designer"

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ORNAMENT AND MODERNITY. Josef Hoffmann 1870–1956. Architect and Designer
Idea: Peter Noever, Walter Persché
Concept: Rainald Franz, Kathrin Pokorny-Nagel
Text: Rainald Franz
Translation: Jiří Strážnický, Martina Straková for the Moravian Gallery in Brno
Editing: Anna Mirfattahi, Martina Straková
Graphic design: Maria-Anna Friedl