Prague will establish a commission for the placement of Mucha's Slav Epic

Prague – The leadership of Prague will form a commission for the placement of the Slavic Epic by Alfons Mucha in Prague. The location will be chosen based on an analysis created for the city by the Institute of Planning and Development (IPR). In addition to politicians from the Prague coalition, the team will include representatives from the opposition, local districts, experts, and heirs. Prague councilor Hana Třeštíková (Prague for Itself) and Jaromír Hainc from IPR informed journalists today. The Institute identified 19 locations, from which it selected the seven best and three most promising, namely Pankrácké náměstí, the Savarin Palace, and the ice houses in Braník.

The cycle consists of 20 large canvases that Mucha painted over 18 years starting in 1910, dedicating them to Prague with the condition that the city would build separate exhibition spaces for the canvases. However, this never happened. The painter's relative John Mucha is suing Prague over the paintings, claiming that the city never became the owner of the artworks because it did not fulfill the author’s condition to build separate exhibition spaces. Since 2010, the epic is a cultural monument. The paintings are now in the depository of the Gallery of the Capital City (GHM).

"We will now establish an expert group that will work with the IPR study and will strive to find both political and professional consensus. We need to find a location that is advantageous in terms of finances and schedule. In the past, proposals have emerged, but they were always reassessed and the city took a step back, and we want to avoid that," Třeštíková said.

The commission will be led by a coordinator and will be responsible for selecting the location. In addition to the financial and temporal aspects, the proposed locations will also be assessed from the perspective of urban development or tourism, which the leadership of Prague wants to spread from the center to other city districts. The final location will be chosen by the city council and approved by the representatives. When this will happen is unclear.

The selected location will need to meet a number of criteria. Among them is a recommended 12-meter distance for viewing the canvases and a minimum room height of ten meters. The building must also include spaces for hosting other cultural events.

Among the considered locations, Pankrácké náměstí has the advantage of easy accessibility, is located outside the narrow historical center, and the building would help urbanistically shape the square, which mainly consists of a large roundabout. "A development study is being prepared. It would be possible to utilize synergy with the Prague Congress Center. However, this would be a long-term matter," Hainc said.

The use of the Savarin or ice houses encounters the problem that the properties do not belong to the city but to private owners. The owners have offered the spaces to Prague themselves. In the case of Savarin, placing it there would be contrary to the city’s intent to spread tourism beyond the center. "This location is in the center, but it is not very lively. While many people walk along the street, the surrounding buildings are lacking in purpose and cultural institutions are thriving less and less there," Třeštíková said.

In addition to the three options, the preferred seven also includes the site of the former Pragovka, the Vyšehrad railway station, or a plot near the C metro station Háje. The previously considered option of Vítkov Hill is also in play.

Last year, the city council approved a five-year loan to Moravský Krumlov, where the paintings were once exhibited. "According to my information, work is being completed. A trial operation should start in October, and if everything goes well, the paintings should move by the end of the year," Třeštíková said.

The first 11 canvases of the epic were exhibited in 1919 at Prague’s Klementinum, and between 1920 and 1921, the epic achieved success in New York and Chicago. The entire epic was first exhibited in 1928 at the Trade Fair Palace in Prague, and the paintings came under the management of the GHMP. In 1933, the canvases were stored in the depository. In 1963, they were again exhibited at the castle in Moravský Krumlov. In 2011, the then-leadership of Prague took the paintings away.