The Špála Gallery will be leased to the company PPF art

Prague - The Václav Špála Gallery in Prague on Národní Street will be rented by PPF Art. This was decided by the council of Prague 1, said Martin Skála (ODS), the councilor for culture, to journalists today. The company will have the gallery on lease for ten years, paying 720,000 crowns annually.
    PPF Art is part of the PPF financial group. It organizes exhibitions of contemporary artists at the Gallery of Czech Insurance and at the Studio of Josef Sudek, and also operates the Louvre Photography Gallery. For PPF, it manages its collection of Czech and Slovak photography and is also involved in similar activities for the art collection of Czech Insurance.
    PPF Art promises to organize six exhibitions a year in the gallery, covering paintings, photographs, and sculptures. The company intends to utilize its own collection as well. According to Jan Řehák, director of the artistic collections division at PPF, three to four exhibitions will showcase contemporary Czech living authors, while one will feature the works of a winner of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award. "We intend to bring a quality exhibition from outside Prague to the city; we are also in talks for an international exhibition loan," added Řehák. He stated that the company is already in discussions with companies from France and Germany.
    The first exhibition is scheduled to take place at the beginning of September and will present a survey of Jiří Černický's work.
    PPF Art promises to operate the gallery from its own resources, will not hold sales exhibitions, and will not seek grants. According to him, the company's activities are patronage that the shareholders have agreed upon. He mentioned that the city district would also financially lose out on supporting the gallery, as it could have rented the space for market rent. "Hopefully, culture will benefit from this," Řehák said.
    Due to financial difficulties, the Semma agency, which had leased the gallery since 2007, will end its tenure at the end of May. In addition to PPF Art, another company named myCode applied for the tender announced by the city hall. The PPF Art project was recommended to the council by an expert committee. Ultimately, the company will pay the city district 720,000 crowns annually, which is 40,000 crowns more than it originally offered in the tender. According to Skála, the company thus aligned its bid in accordance with the competition conditions with the offer from competing myCode. Řehák noted that the city hall itself prompted the company to raise its bid.
    The gallery named after the famous Czech painter was established in 1957. It experienced its greatest glory from 1965 to 1970 when Jindřich Chalupecký curated it. In the 70s and 80s, exhibitions of official art were held at the Špála Gallery.
    After 1989, a quality program returned to the gallery. However, in 2002, the program began to be managed by the Czech Art Fund Foundation, which rented the building. The foundation did not focus on a concept for exhibitions but rented the gallery freely. The art community protested against the decline of the gallery, but only in 2007 was a tender announced for a new tenant.