The Gallery of the Capital City of Prague will announce a new procedure for the installation of the epic

Prague - The Gallery of the Capital City of Prague (GHMP) will announce a new public tender for a company that will prepare a temporary exhibition of the Slavic Epic by painter Alfons Mucha in the hall of the Trade Fair Palace. The company is expected to produce exhibition panels and stands and ensure the installation of the canvases. The original tender was canceled by the gallery this week due to bids exceeding the financial limit. The price was supposed to be in the range of two to 4.9 million crowns. Milan Bufka, the director of the gallery, said this today to ČTK.
    The gallery will now go through the tender documentation again and try to propose a cheaper solution. "We want to review the material demands of the solution proposed by the architect, whether the frames must be made of steel or if another material can be chosen," said Bufka. However, it seems that the tender will still have to be increased to a limit of 10 million crowns, Bufka added. The gallery received a total of 25 million crowns from the council of the capital city of Prague for the preparation of the exhibition and everything related to it.
    The exhibition was originally supposed to start at the turn of September and October, but Moravský Krumlov decided not to release the paintings to Prague. The ban on moving the work was issued by officials of the Moravský Krumlov City Office at the request of Mucha's grandson John.
    The region has a thirty-day deadline to discuss Prague's objections to this decision. It should decide by the beginning of October. However, it can extend the deadline by another month if officials from the South Moravian Region conclude that the case is complicated and they need further documentation for their decision.
    According to John Mucha, Prague has not fulfilled the conditions of the donation agreement, as it has not built an exhibition for the epic, and thus has no right to the work. A legal question arises as to whom the collection of 20 large Mucha canvases actually belongs.
    GHMP is preparing the exhibition despite these problems. The exhibition is architecturally and graphically prepared, texts have been written, and the catalog is finished. What is crucially missing are the paintings.
    GHMP has the hall of the Trade Fair Palace rented until May. If the paintings can be moved to Prague, the gallery will try to display the collection for at least a few months. All material will then be used for a long-term exhibition.