Today is the deadline for submitting applications for the competition for the head of the NGP

Prague - Today marks the end of the deadline for applicants to submit their applications for the selection process for the General Director of the National Gallery in Prague. The Ministry of Culture announced the competition in mid-April and expects the new director to take office from October 1, at the latest by January 1 of next year. The institution currently has a temporary director following the dismissal of director Jiří Fajt last year.

The announcement of the competition was made by Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek exactly one year after his predecessor Antonín Staněk (both from the ČSSD party) dismissed the then director of the gallery, Jiří Fajt. Along with him, he also removed the director of the Museum of Art in Olomouc, Michal Soukup. Both directors were removed by Staněk citing economic mismanagement. A year ago, Staněk temporarily entrusted the management of NGP to economist Ivan Morávek and announced selections for new directors of both institutions. Zaorálek canceled these upon his arrival at the ministry. In the case of NGP, he dismissed Morávek and entrusted the management of the gallery to Anne-Maria Nedomová, the wife of Petr Nedoma, the director of the Rudolfinum Gallery.

The selection process is announced as open and multi-stage. Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek also stated that the ministry will approach some personalities directly.

The criteria for the selection process were prepared by the Supervisory Board of the National Gallery, chaired by architect Josef Pleskot, which Zaorálek established last September upon his entry into the ministry. Zaorálek stated that Pleskot would also chair the selection committee.