The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague hosts works by young designers

Prague - Selected works from the emerging generation of designers from the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) will be hosted by the neighboring Museum of Applied Arts (UPM) for the next ten days. The exhibition, simply titled Exhibition 2011, will offer visitors objects created by promising authors in the studios of glass, jewelry, architecture, design, or graphic design. Interested parties can evaluate the best diploma and semester works of students from the academic year 2010/2011 only from November 17 to 27.
    The exhibition is curated by Karel Císař, who approached the installation of 15 student works with his characteristic humor. Upon entering the room, viewers are not greeted by pedestals with arranged objects, but by red wooden transport crates, which only upon closer inspection reveal the ingenious works of young designers. Some are suspended in the crates, such as a voluminous knitted object by designer Monika Krobová, while others are hidden within layers of polystyrene. "Although I work with the human body and figure, I enjoy that the final product does not have to be strictly clothing; it can result in something that resembles a sculpture or a piece of art," commented Krobová on her several-kilogram, yet supposedly wearable object.
    Other boxes conceal, for example, video installations, concrete vases, chunky glass jewelry, or a black-and-white comic. "Thanks to this exhibition, we will be able to ask whether the works of authors who are just at the beginning of their artistic careers signify the future of the field, and we will also be able to consider whether they stand up against its past today," said Císař, who chose this unconventional method of installing works into transport crates to present individual items more intimately.
    "We would like to see a similar exhibition project happen every year so that we can establish a new tradition. We organize a number of diploma exhibitions, but those are a complete overview of the work of all our students. Here, however, are only groundbreaking and exceptional works," added Filip Suchomel, the vice-rector of UMPRUM, in conclusion.
    Besides the imaginative catalog reminiscent of a student book, Exhibition 2011 includes a supporting program. Every evening from November 17 to 27, lectures will take place on site, featuring designers such as Maxim Velčovský, sculptor Rony Plesl, fashion designer Liběna Rochová, and artist Dominik Lang.