The upcoming competition for the renovation of Budějovice cinema

České Budějovice - There was minimal interest in operating the Czech Budějovice cinema Kotva and the municipal gallery House of Art. A total of three applicants registered for the tender, of which one was eliminated. In both proceedings, the current operators Jan Turinský and Michal Škoda defended their positions. The deputy mayor Ivana Popelová (OPB) told journalists today.
The prestigious gallery in the lucrative city property on the central square faced closure two years ago, against which thousands of people protested across the country. Last year, there was a fight to preserve the summer cinema Háječek, which had been part of the lease agreement for cinema Kotva.
Turinský secured the cinema for ten years for a symbolic annual rent of 100 crowns and with a subsidy of 1.2 million crowns. The annual rent for the contemporary art gallery is 12 crowns, with a subsidy of 1.1 million crowns. The programming of both the gallery and the cinema remains similar.
The rental of the summer cinema Háječek was no longer part of the tender for cinema Kotva. According to the old contract with a one-year notice period, it will still be operated this year by the current operator. A separate architectural competition is being prepared for the new usage and reconstruction of the site, which is expected to take place in the autumn.
Since 1998, the programming of the gallery has focused on contemporary visual arts and architecture. Each year, it prepares ten exhibitions featuring the most interesting domestic creators, as well as significant authors from abroad. Over the past years, a gradual conceptual direction of the gallery towards minimalism, geometric or conceptual art and their overlaps can be observed.
The cinema city has digitalized at a cost of over four million crowns with a subsidy, according to Turinský, now better facing the competition from multiplex cinemas.