The exhibitions of Gočár's gallery at the Pardubice castle are ending, they are moving to the mills

Pardubice - Until mid-January, interested parties have the last opportunity to see the exhibitions at the Pardubice Castle. Until Sunday, January 15, the exhibitions "Bodies in Narrow" and the long-term exhibition "Reflections of Landscape and Nature" can be viewed in the spaces of the Gočár Gallery, formerly the East Bohemian Gallery. After that, the gallery will begin moving to its new headquarters in the former Automatic Mills and will gradually vacate the castle.

"At the same time, everyone can take a final look at the exhibition halls that have served the gallery since the early 1970s. Until the opening of the building in the Automatic Mills, the main exhibition space of the Gočár Gallery will be at the House at Jonah, which remains in regional ownership and we will continue to use it for the presentation of artistic creation, collections, and education of children," said the gallery director Klára Zářecká.

The Pardubice Region, which is only the founder of the institution, expects the gradual relocation of the gallery's collections and offices from the castle throughout this year. First, it will vacate the current exhibition spaces, then the depositories, and finally the offices in the castle complex, where only the East Bohemian Museum will remain.

"Both regional institutions, the museum and the gallery, will improve and, in a way, become emancipated. They will have their own areas, and for the local public as well as for visitors from farther places, their promotion will be better comprehensible. No one will be overshadowed by the other," said the deputy governor of the Pardubice Region for investments and culture Roman Línek (Coalition for Pardubice Region).

The regional administration plans to renovate the spaces after the gallery. A community hall with facilities will be created in the main palace of the castle, a visitor center, and a permanent exhibition of the museum in the outbuildings. It is tentatively expected that the reconstruction itself will begin at the end of this year, or at the latest at the beginning of next year. The architectural study of the visitor center of the East Bohemian Museum and the entire castle by architect Petr Všetečka is currently being adapted to the conditions of the European subsidy. The entire project is divided into several phases, and the project documentation is being developed by the studio Masák & Partner. "We already have a building permit for the entire construction, but the division of the project allows us to proceed in parts, as circumstances permit. These additional works are below ten percent, the total cost of the project documentation will increase by 270,000 crowns," stated Línek.

The Pardubice Region bought part of the Automatic Mills, which are a national cultural monument, from the Smetana couple. The building was designed for Egon and Kala Winternitz by architect Josef Gočár, and it was constructed between 1909 and 1911. In 1919, it suffered a fire, and in the following five years, it was raised by one floor and an automatic fire extinguishing system was installed. In the 1920s, a silo was added to the mill, which is connected to the older part by a bridge. The mills ceased operation in 2013, and the company GoodMills offered the area to the city, which did not purchase it at that time. Newly built municipal polytechnic workshops Sféra and the Gallery of the City of Pardubice will also be located in the area, along with exhibition and community spaces in the silo, which is being transformed by the Smetana Couples Foundation.