Plzeňský kraj expects that the money for the new gallery will be provided by the state

Plzeň - The construction of the regional gallery in Plzeň should be partially financed by the state. The Plzeň region has agreed with the Minister of Culture that funds for it will be included in the state budget outlook for the coming years. The West Bohemian Gallery is explicitly mentioned in the government’s program declaration, said the economic deputy of the Plzeň governor Marcela Krejsová (ODS).

The region has had a building permit for the gallery since last year for 820 million CZK. It will build it if the state contributes 480 million CZK. The regional leadership has been negotiating this for almost two years. According to the state’s commitment, the money for the supplementary funding should be directly in the budget. Another possibility is that the government will fill the investment fund for the development of regional cultural facilities.

“We agreed with the Minister of Culture that this (the gallery) is a significant matter,” Krejsová stated. According to her, the pressure from the Association of Regions helped with this. Krejsová visited all regions and explained to them that the ministerial fund is useless if there is not a single koruna in it. “And that we must exert pressure for this (fund) to be filled because the state cultural policy is not made only by the contribution organizations of the ministry, but by all cultural institutions in the Czech Republic established by regions or municipalities,” she added.

In the end, this became a priority for the Association of Regions in the field of culture, and its chairwoman went to the government with it. “The governor Ivo Vondrák (ANO) from Ostrava helped a lot. And now it shows. The government is visiting the regions and promises co-financing for some cultural institution in each region,” Krejsová stated. However, she believes that Plzeň is the most prepared because it has a building permit.

Originally, the gallery was to be supported by memoranda from the region, the city of Plzeň, and the Ministry of Culture. However, the former minister ultimately stated that this approach is not entirely fortunate and that it should be written as a fundamental matter in the state budget outlook, perhaps in two or three tranches. “I am curious when the state budget will be officially published as a law,” the deputy said. After approval by the councilors, the region would immediately announce a public tender. Krejsová would like to have the funds for completing the nearly finished detailed implementation documentation approved by the end of the year.

The gallery will have permanent exhibitions, with 95 percent of the 10,000 exhibits worth over one billion crowns currently in storage. The West Bohemian Gallery owns the second most valuable collection of interwar modernism after the National Gallery. “Together with Ostrava, we are the only gallery in the Czech Republic that does not have a permanent exhibition due to spatial reasons,” said director Roman Musil.