The Ministry of Culture announced a competition for the head of the National Gallery

Prague - The Ministry of Culture today announced a tender for the position of General Director of the National Gallery in Prague. Interested candidates can apply until June 17th, and the ministry expects the new director to take office on October 1st, but no later than January 1st of the following year. The term of the director will be six years. Ivana Awwadová from the press department of the Ministry of Culture informed the Czech Press Agency of this in a press release today. The institution currently has an interim director following the dismissal of director Jiří Fajt last year.

Culture Minister Lubomír Zaorálek announced the opening of the competition exactly one year after his predecessor Antonín Staněk (both from the Czech Social Democratic Party) dismissed the then-director of the gallery, Jiří Fajt. Along with him, he also dismissed the director of the Olomouc Museum of Art, Michal Soukup. Both heads were dismissed by Staněk citing economic shortcomings. A year ago, Staněk temporarily entrusted the management of NGP to economist Ivan Morávek and announced tenders for new directors of both institutions. Zaorálek canceled these upon his arrival at the ministry. In the case of NGP, he dismissed Morávek and tasked Anne-Maria Nedomu with managing the gallery.

The tender is announced as an open and multi-stage process. In the first round, the qualifications of the candidates will be assessed. Selected participants will be invited to a personal interview in the next round. Zaorálek previously told the Czech Press Agency that the ministry would also reach out to some personalities directly. The tender conditions, which include experience in managing public institutions, working in cultural institutions, education or professional experience in the field of art history, and experience in managing investment construction projects, are available on the MK website.

Before Easter, Zaorálek told the Czech Press Agency that, even considering the state of emergency, he does not see reasons to postpone the original plan he announced last September after taking office.

The selection criteria for the ministry were prepared by the Guarantee Council of the National Gallery, chaired by architect Josef Pleskot, which Zaorálek established after taking over the ministry last September. Zaorálek stated that Pleskot will also chair the selection committee.