<div>Dům umění in České Budějovice 1998-2013 - publication review</div>
The České Budějovice House of Art has, in nearly two decades under the leadership of Michal Škoda, achieved the position of perhaps the most interesting domestic gallery of its kind. This has primarily happened due to Škoda's clear and consistent dramaturgy and concept, which gives space in the gallery mainly to authors who are close to him through their rational, reductive, and conceptual work. Unlike other local city galleries, the House of Art transcends its regional boundaries in two ways – firstly, by opening up space for artists working outside the region or even established creators from abroad; and secondly, by the significance of the gallery, which must be understood alongside other institutions often found in the capital city. Therefore, it is interesting that the events in the gallery under Michal Škoda's leadership are now documented in a separate publication.
The book captures a total of 151 exhibitions that took place in the gallery from 1998 to 2013. Each exhibition is given several pages with photographs, text, and a brief author profile. The book is introduced by extensive introductory texts by Terezie Nekvindová, Jiří Ptáček, Karel Císař, Karolína Jirkalová, and Adam Gebrian, along with an interview between Terezie Nekvindová and Michal Škoda.
There can be no doubt about the gallery's prominent position in the context of the domestic art scene. Personally, I find it more interesting that Škoda began offering space for the presentation of architecture in the gallery. Initially, he presented an established architect from the middle and older generation once a year – at the turn of 2000/2001, there was an exhibition of Josef Pleskot, followed in subsequent years by Roman Koucký (2002), Ivan Kroupa (2004), Ladislav Lábus (2005), Alena Šrámková (2007), and Martin Rajniš (2010). In the summer of 2009, the gallery featured a unique architectural work – the "ray," a concert hall for České Budějovice by Jan Kaplický's Future Systems studio. The format of these exhibitions can be considered standard – architecture was presented to visitors through photographs, sketches, or models.
The mere fact that a leading Czech architect presents their work once a year in a regional art gallery deserves recognition. However, at the turn of 2011 and 2012, the exhibitions took on a somewhat different direction, and activities in the gallery began to be interesting on a much broader scale. At that time, the studio Projektil architekti was featured here. Alongside a generational leap, there was also a shift in the concept of the exhibition itself, in which, in addition to the architects, curator Vít Havránek collaborated with Adam Gebrian and Petr Babák. The buildings were presented through everyday photos taken by their regular users. Meanwhile, the architects also engaged on a theoretical level.
Just two months later, the gallery hosted even younger architects who, instead of focusing solely on their project presentations, opted for a more theoretical approach – A1 Architects presented their theme of unlimited living in limited space. Shortly thereafter, their peers Mjölk Architekti partially thematically followed up, placing their small house in the form of a "city lookout" directly in the square and transforming the gallery into their own studio.
The following year, 2013, marked another turning point. Škoda introduced the first foreign architect when young Japanese architect Takeši Hosaka filled the gallery with a delicate installation of his sketches and again placed several objects in the space of Přemysl Otakar II Square. At the end of the year, Škoda brought Swiss architect of Czech roots Miroslav Šik to České Budějovice with a variation of his exhibition A Now the Ensemble!!!, originally prepared for the Venice Biennale. The internationally renowned Šik, during his brief post-revolutionary teaching tenure at the Prague Faculty of Architecture, significantly influenced several now-prominent mid-generation architects, so it is no surprise that his first exhibition in our territory prompted a literal influx of architects from across the republic for its opening and the accompanying lecture.
At this moment, one could say at the peak, the publication about the House of Art concludes – however, the story may continue. Last year, the Prague-based MCA Atelier of Pavla Melková and Miroslav Cikán again presented themselves here in an original way. Shortly after, they invited Swiss architect Gion A. Caminada, who filled the Prague Bethlehem Chapel with listeners for his lecture, followed by an exhibition – and now it remains to be added – where else, but in České Budějovice.
It might seem that the growing space for showcasing architecture parallels the increasing interest in this topic across society. Unfortunately, however, this is more a wish than a reality. The House of Art, which is already referred to as the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture, is very unique even compared to purely architectural galleries and several other institutions where architecture occasionally finds its way into the exhibition program. Rather than a general trend, it is the contribution of Michal Škoda himself – how close Michal Škoda is to architecture can also be traced in his own work or the selection of other exhibiting artists who deal with the topic of space and often react to the specific space of the gallery in their exhibitions. The photographic presentation of exhibitions in the publication suggests this, as it is mainly about capturing the atmosphere of the gallery and the exhibited works in an overall context. The expansion of the exhibition program to include the youngest and foreign architects has opened doors to exhibiting architecture in unconventional ways, which can only be beneficial to the domestic scene. However, so far none of the architects or architectural teams have transformed the gallery space as dramatically as several visual artists have (for example, Tomáš Džadoň with the adjustment of the gallery for Václav Stratila's exhibition or Dominik Lang). But we can hope that we can expect many interesting things in this regard in the future.
Who is this book about the first sixteen years of the functioning of this gallery for and why? For self-presentation? As a reminder for those who have been closely following the events in the gallery for a long time? As study material on how to (not) do it for other curators and gallery directors? A presentation of a selection of names of established artists and architects – regardless of the extent to which they could be considered established at the time they presented in the gallery? For me personally, this publication was an impulse. After years of acknowledging that this institution exists somewhere in the south and feeling guilty for missing a few interesting and significant exhibitions here, I finally set out on a journey. Thus, on a Wednesday evening in April, I arrive with a huge delay in the deserted historical center of České Budějovice to the place where, according to the previous instructions, I suspect the entrance to the gallery is located. The place itself seems deliberately uninviting from the entrance, however, one floor up, I step into a purely white exhibition space to realize that the strategy learned in Prague – arriving late to the best part – does not work here, and the opening is already nearing its end after an hour. I thus have only a weak quarter of an hour left to admire the subtle beauty captured in photographs of buildings by RCR Arquitectes. Even so, I leave with the conviction that I will return here – and another planned program, which I casually overhear, only reinforces that belief.
More information >
The book captures a total of 151 exhibitions that took place in the gallery from 1998 to 2013. Each exhibition is given several pages with photographs, text, and a brief author profile. The book is introduced by extensive introductory texts by Terezie Nekvindová, Jiří Ptáček, Karel Císař, Karolína Jirkalová, and Adam Gebrian, along with an interview between Terezie Nekvindová and Michal Škoda.
There can be no doubt about the gallery's prominent position in the context of the domestic art scene. Personally, I find it more interesting that Škoda began offering space for the presentation of architecture in the gallery. Initially, he presented an established architect from the middle and older generation once a year – at the turn of 2000/2001, there was an exhibition of Josef Pleskot, followed in subsequent years by Roman Koucký (2002), Ivan Kroupa (2004), Ladislav Lábus (2005), Alena Šrámková (2007), and Martin Rajniš (2010). In the summer of 2009, the gallery featured a unique architectural work – the "ray," a concert hall for České Budějovice by Jan Kaplický's Future Systems studio. The format of these exhibitions can be considered standard – architecture was presented to visitors through photographs, sketches, or models.
The mere fact that a leading Czech architect presents their work once a year in a regional art gallery deserves recognition. However, at the turn of 2011 and 2012, the exhibitions took on a somewhat different direction, and activities in the gallery began to be interesting on a much broader scale. At that time, the studio Projektil architekti was featured here. Alongside a generational leap, there was also a shift in the concept of the exhibition itself, in which, in addition to the architects, curator Vít Havránek collaborated with Adam Gebrian and Petr Babák. The buildings were presented through everyday photos taken by their regular users. Meanwhile, the architects also engaged on a theoretical level.
Just two months later, the gallery hosted even younger architects who, instead of focusing solely on their project presentations, opted for a more theoretical approach – A1 Architects presented their theme of unlimited living in limited space. Shortly thereafter, their peers Mjölk Architekti partially thematically followed up, placing their small house in the form of a "city lookout" directly in the square and transforming the gallery into their own studio.
The following year, 2013, marked another turning point. Škoda introduced the first foreign architect when young Japanese architect Takeši Hosaka filled the gallery with a delicate installation of his sketches and again placed several objects in the space of Přemysl Otakar II Square. At the end of the year, Škoda brought Swiss architect of Czech roots Miroslav Šik to České Budějovice with a variation of his exhibition A Now the Ensemble!!!, originally prepared for the Venice Biennale. The internationally renowned Šik, during his brief post-revolutionary teaching tenure at the Prague Faculty of Architecture, significantly influenced several now-prominent mid-generation architects, so it is no surprise that his first exhibition in our territory prompted a literal influx of architects from across the republic for its opening and the accompanying lecture.
At this moment, one could say at the peak, the publication about the House of Art concludes – however, the story may continue. Last year, the Prague-based MCA Atelier of Pavla Melková and Miroslav Cikán again presented themselves here in an original way. Shortly after, they invited Swiss architect Gion A. Caminada, who filled the Prague Bethlehem Chapel with listeners for his lecture, followed by an exhibition – and now it remains to be added – where else, but in České Budějovice.
It might seem that the growing space for showcasing architecture parallels the increasing interest in this topic across society. Unfortunately, however, this is more a wish than a reality. The House of Art, which is already referred to as the Gallery of Contemporary Art and Architecture, is very unique even compared to purely architectural galleries and several other institutions where architecture occasionally finds its way into the exhibition program. Rather than a general trend, it is the contribution of Michal Škoda himself – how close Michal Škoda is to architecture can also be traced in his own work or the selection of other exhibiting artists who deal with the topic of space and often react to the specific space of the gallery in their exhibitions. The photographic presentation of exhibitions in the publication suggests this, as it is mainly about capturing the atmosphere of the gallery and the exhibited works in an overall context. The expansion of the exhibition program to include the youngest and foreign architects has opened doors to exhibiting architecture in unconventional ways, which can only be beneficial to the domestic scene. However, so far none of the architects or architectural teams have transformed the gallery space as dramatically as several visual artists have (for example, Tomáš Džadoň with the adjustment of the gallery for Václav Stratila's exhibition or Dominik Lang). But we can hope that we can expect many interesting things in this regard in the future.
Who is this book about the first sixteen years of the functioning of this gallery for and why? For self-presentation? As a reminder for those who have been closely following the events in the gallery for a long time? As study material on how to (not) do it for other curators and gallery directors? A presentation of a selection of names of established artists and architects – regardless of the extent to which they could be considered established at the time they presented in the gallery? For me personally, this publication was an impulse. After years of acknowledging that this institution exists somewhere in the south and feeling guilty for missing a few interesting and significant exhibitions here, I finally set out on a journey. Thus, on a Wednesday evening in April, I arrive with a huge delay in the deserted historical center of České Budějovice to the place where, according to the previous instructions, I suspect the entrance to the gallery is located. The place itself seems deliberately uninviting from the entrance, however, one floor up, I step into a purely white exhibition space to realize that the strategy learned in Prague – arriving late to the best part – does not work here, and the opening is already nearing its end after an hour. I thus have only a weak quarter of an hour left to admire the subtle beauty captured in photographs of buildings by RCR Arquitectes. Even so, I leave with the conviction that I will return here – and another planned program, which I casually overhear, only reinforces that belief.
More information >
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