Zlín Gallery presents architecture and life during the Bata era

Zlín - Today, the exhibition "The Baťa Phenomenon - Zlín Architecture 1910 - 1960" opened at the Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Zlín. The presentation, which premiered at the Trade Fair Palace in Prague and was repeated in the representative spaces of the Gallery of Modern Art, attracted an unexpectedly high interest from the public. Over 100,000 people visited it, said the curator of the exhibition, Ladislava Horňáková, to ČTK today.
    Due to limited space, the exhibition in Zlín has been reduced to approximately one third. The Prague exhibition focused on providing the public with a general introduction to the scope of the Baťa company’s activities, its production, and the unprecedented development of Zlín during the interwar period, as well as the overall environment of the city in the past and present. In Zlín, the focus is mainly on presenting new gallery collections of architecture, previously unexhibited or unknown interesting photographs, such as originals by famous photographers Josef Sudek and Rudolf Bruner - Dvořák, and plans.
    Among the most interesting exhibits is the Zlín master plan by František Lydie Gahura from 1935, which is on display for the very first time. "It is an amazing archival material, and it is sensational that the Moravian State Archives (in Brno) lent it to us," said Radomíra Sedláková from the National Gallery in Prague, which is collaborating with the Zlín gallery on the exhibition.
    The exhibition presents the unique architecture and urbanism of the company in the first half of the 20th century, the rapid growth of the factory and the city of Zlín, and the generous planning of the garden city. "Visitors will also become acquainted with the originality of the management and business support system, a completely new lifestyle, and the overall flourishing that no other city in our republic has achieved in such a short time," added Horňáková.
    The exhibition will be on display at the Zlín Regional Gallery until August 29. Until then, practically the entire Zlín will be living with the exhibition. A series of guided tours will take place in the city's exteriors, the František Bartoš Regional Library has prepared readings about Baťa, and Miroslava Štýbrová from the Shoe Museum will present sales demonstrations and types of stores at the Baťa company.