Open Letter from the Friends of the Benedikt Rejt Gallery Association in Louny

Dear Prime Minister,
Dear Minister!

Some time ago, you successfully saved the birthplace of Bohuslav Reynka in Petrkov through its purchase and transfer under a state institution. This was a significant act for culture and national heritage.
However, we must ask why there are tendencies in the Ústí nad Labem Region that are in stark contradiction to your cultural policy, of which the aforementioned example is a manifestation. We turn to you with an urgent request to consider giving the same attention to an institution of nationwide importance that is, in contrast, managed by regional self-government. This concerns the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Lounech.
The cultural public considers the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Lounech to be a cult site of Czech architecture. This important building was created solely thanks to the efforts of the current director, PhDr. Alice Štefančíková. Despite all the difficulties and the unfortunate attempts of the Ústí nad Labem Region's leadership, this director built a respected institution with international reach. In an unprecedented way, it presents, among others, the work of Emil Filla, whose post-war creation was rehabilitated only thanks to her presentation as the current director of the Benedikt Rejt Gallery, while the leadership of the Ústí nad Labem Region is facilitating the liquidation of the Emil Filla Memorial Hall in Peruc.
We therefore ask again: is it necessary to liquidate qualified and dedicated directors? The Emil Filla Memorial Hall, which is institutionally and organizationally connected with the Benedikt Rejt Gallery, has been liquidated through the collaboration of the regional, municipal, and other authorities. Now, due to the unfortunate personnel policy of the Ústí nad Labem Region, the current director PhDr. Alice Štefančíková, who has a lion's share in making this gallery a collection and otherwise significant national institution, has also been dismissed.
The problem of the Benedikt Rejt Gallery lies in the contradiction between the national significance of this institution and its regional administration, which primarily seeks its own personnel and other interests. We believe it would be legally possible for GBR as a budgetary organization of the Ústí nad Labem Region to return under the wings of the Ministry of Culture.
Dear Prime Minister, dear Minister, please consider whether there is a place in your busy schedule for a visit to Lounech, just as there was for a visit to Petrkov, and whether it would not be appropriate, a mere month before regional elections, to advocate for the suspension of the appointment of new directors and the restoration of mandates to those who built these institutions?

The Friends of the Benedikt Rejt Gallery Association in Lounech, with the support of cultural figures, has signed petitions in support of director PhDr. Štefančíková and to abolish the selection process.

For your information:
Oldřich Bubeníček, Governor of the Ústí nad Labem Region
Pavel Janda, Mayor of the City of Lounech