The Minister of Culture will announce the new director of the National Gallery today

Prague - Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD) will announce today who will lead the National Gallery in Prague. The new director will come from a selection process that Zaorálek announced in April. Three candidates are in the final round: the director of the Plato Gallery in Ostrava, Marek Pokorný, Alicja Knast from Poland, and Jiří Fajt, who has already served as director of the NGP for five years.

It was precisely because of the sudden dismissal of NGP director Fajt last year that the gallery had temporary leadership for a year and a half. Last April, Fajt was dismissed along with the director of the Olomouc Museum of Art, Michal Soukup, by then Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (ČSSD). Both were dismissed citing economic misconduct, and a criminal complaint was filed against them. The police later shelved both complaints, and the Czech Republic apologized to Fajt for his dismissal from the position of NGP director. Staněk commissioned economist Ivan Morávek to lead the NGP after Fajt's dismissal and announced a selection process for Fajt's successor.

Staněk's actions led to protests from part of the cultural community and began discussions about his departure from the position. Staněk resigned last May, but President Miloš Zeman refused to accept it and hesitated to dismiss him. At the request of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), he was dismissed only at the end of July. At the end of August, the president then appointed Zaorálek as minister. Due to the dispute over the replacement of the Minister of Culture, the Social Democrats threatened to leave the government.

After his appointment as Minister of Culture, Zaorálek canceled the competition announced by Staněk, dismissed Morávek from the NGP leadership, and appointed Anne-Maria Nedomu, the wife of the director of the Rudolfinum Gallery, Petr Nedomy, to manage the gallery.