The Minister addressed curators and gallerists for the competition to the National Gallery

Prague - Minister of Culture Václav Riedlbauch has approached five Czech gallery owners and art historians to participate in the competition for the director of the National Gallery in Prague (NG). They are Vít Vlnas, the director of the NG's Collection of Old Art, his predecessor Jiří Fajt, Marek Pokorný, the director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno, Petr Nedoma, the director of the Rudolfinum Gallery, and Pavel Liška, the rector of the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design. The ministry informed ČTK today.
    Whether those approached will apply is unclear. "I have not yet been officially invited to participate in the competition," Nedoma told ČTK today.
    According to the minister, each of the approached personalities has the qualifications to lead the NG. "I would be pleased if other personalities were also approached by the current leadership of the National Gallery; it would certainly enrich the entire demanding selection process even more," the Minister of Culture added. He also called on the current director of the NG, Milan Knížák, to broaden the pool of nominees.
    The approached individuals are primarily art historians, but among experts in the visual arts, there is also an opinion that the head of such a large state institution should preferably be a manager rather than an art theorist or even an artist, as has been the case in the last ten years. Riedlbauch announced the competition for the director of the NG on February 25, with the application deadline set for March 31. The minister would likely like to select the successor to the long-term head of the gallery before the May elections.
    When the new director might take office is not yet clear. Knížák has repeatedly stated that he would like to remain at the head of the NG until the end of next year. Riedlbauch also speaks of the necessity to maintain the continuity of the institution; he did not specify the date for Knížák's successor to take office.
    A twelve-member committee will select the new director, of which four are experts from abroad. Compared to the original proposal of nine members recommended to the minister by the advisory board of domestic experts in visual arts, the committee has three more members, including Tomáš Vlček, the director of the NG's Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art, and Václav Pavlíček, a member of the NG Scientific Council.