Knížák's students do not want his departure from the position of studio head

Prague - Students from the Atelier of Intermedia Creation at the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) are protesting against the fact that Milan Knížák will no longer lead it after 25 years. The former director of the National Gallery in Prague failed in the competition that took place for the position of head of the atelier in mid-January. The commission selected Milena Dopitová from the three candidates who advanced to the second round. Rector Tomáš Vaněk appointed her as the head of Atelier of Intermedia Creation I and announced his decision today on the school's website.
    Simultaneously, competitions were held at AVU for the head of Atelier of Intermedia Creation II, where Jiří Příhoda will be replaced by the duo of educators Pavla Sceranková and Dušan Zahoranský, and for Atelier of New Media I, where Marcuse Huemer will be succeeded by Tomáš Svoboda. However, students do not publicly support Příhoda and Huemer as they do for the departing Knížák. All three educators affected by the change will complete the academic year 2014/2015 without changes.
    Students from Knížák's atelier are demanding a review of the selection process and are drafting a petition in this regard. By this evening, it has 26 signatures. They are also preparing a protest action at AVU. In addition to Knížák's qualities and merits, which Rector Vaněk also points out, they add their opinion that the commission should primarily consider the interests of the school and the students directly affected by the change in educator, feeling that the change in leadership is "significantly disrupting the path of already commenced individual development based on the well-developed pedagogical methodology of Professor Knížák."
    "In making my decision, I primarily weighed the contributions of individual personalities within the given artistic fields, their pedagogical, artistic, and academic levels, and I was also interested in their attitude towards teamwork within AVU and the type of pedagogical personality, along with the associated possibilities for change and the potential for further development, especially in terms of AVU's future and its position among art schools in the European region," said the rector.
    In the case of Knížák, who served as rector of AVU from 1990 to 1997, Vaněk stated that he is "fully aware of his exceptional contribution, which provided AVU with a new definition and quality during the 90s."
    "I greatly appreciate the twenty-five years of work he devoted to the students and the entire school," he stated. As a gesture of thanks and recognition of his merits, he will submit a proposal to the Artistic Council of AVU to award Knížák the title of Doctor honoris causa. "Professor Knížák will hold the status of emeritus professor, and thus continue to participate in school activities, including the possibility of supervising selected doctoral candidates. Last but not least, the professor will have the opportunity to prepare a series of author lectures for the entire academic community for the new academic year 2015/2016," stated Vaněk.