The Mánes Exhibition Hall is empty; part of the building has been rented by an auction house

Photo from the 1930s; source NČA

Prague - The Prague exhibition hall Mánes has been empty for three months following the conclusion of the only exhibition held there after its renovation. Only short-term commercial events are organized there, not exhibitions of visual art. The smaller exhibition hall of Mánes has been rented by the auction house Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, which will hold exhibitions there. It is not yet clear when art will return to the main hall.
"We have rented a small exhibition hall where we plan to hold short-term exhibitions of quality foreign and Czech artists. We will start operations at the end of this year or at the beginning of next," said Vladimír Lekeš, managing director of Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, to ČTK. The entire Mánes building is operated by the Foundation of Czech Visual Arts (NČVU), which was awarded the functionalist landmark built by the Mánes association after years of disputes in court. The court did not recognize the succession of the Mánes association, which resumed its activities after 1989.
The foundation completed a two-year renovation of Mánes this spring, having borrowed money for it and temporarily transferring the building to Apella fine arts, a company it founded itself, to secure a loan. The foundation promised to repay the loan from future commercial activities of Mánes. In addition to operating a restaurant, it is also supposed to involve renting office spaces.
As the NČVU chairman Petr Kuthan said today to ČTK, the offices are rented, the restaurant supposedly has a tenant, but it has not yet been licensed even three quarters of a year after the completion of the renovation. "There are many minor complaints with Skanska (the company that renovated the building), windows, rain gutters, the air conditioning system...," he said, adding that these deficiencies should be resolved by the end of the year.
The NČVU faces criticism from part of the visual arts community for not communicating with the art scene, mismanaging its assets, having a non-transparent election of its board, and not allowing representatives of the younger generation of artists and theorists to join. The foundation has repeatedly stated that critics should form an association through which they can run for positions in the foundation's bodies. The elections for the board were held in May, and none of the candidates from the new association Skutek were elected.
"We observe the dramaturgical and production helplessness of the foundation during the operation of the renovated Mánes building. We are strongly concerned about the foundation's inability to find a purpose for the building, which it had renovated on debt, and we believe it should publicly acknowledge its economic failure as well. We see greater openness to the professional community as a condition for any joint search for a solution," said Jiří Ptáček, chairman of the Skutek association and curator, to ČTK.
After the renovation, a two-month exhibition of Ivan Steiger took place in Mánes, otherwise the building provides space for fashion shows or presentations of luxury cars, which help repay the loan. There is no planned exhibition program on the foundation's website either. However, the foundation announced that those wishing to hold an exhibition in Mánes would have to financially contribute to it. The foundation had already charged high rent to artists in Mánes before the renovation.