The Kunsthalle Praha is a private art museum for contemporary art that opened in February 2022. It is located in the Czech capital Prague. The museum is housed in a former cultural monument, the Zenger Transformation Station building. The director and CEO of the Kunsthalle Praha Foundation is Bulgarian Ivana Goossen.
The museum is supported by the non-profit Pudil Family Foundation, which wanted to create a platform with Kunsthalle Praha to promote the understanding and appreciation of Czech and international modern and contemporary art.
Name of the museum According to the Pudil Family Foundation, a conscious decision was made to use the German-language term “Kunsthalle“ in the name of the museum, on the one hand to refer to Prague's multicultural roots as a city of three nations and two languages, and on the other hand to point to Prague's cultural significance in the 19th and first half of the 20th century; where Czechs, Germans and the Jewish community lived together.
Collection mission, tasks and programme The museum has set itself the task of contributing to a better understanding of Czech and international art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Therefore, the museum is committed to established and emerging artists from Central Europe, as well as to discovering artistic trends and periods that are underrepresented or little known in the Czech Republic. The museum also serves as a platform for international artistic exchange, collaborating with nonprofit organizations in the USA and Great Britian to facilitate residencies for artists and curators.
Kunsthalle Praha defines its core mission as the following: "We connect the Czech and international art scenes, present innovative perspectives on 20th and 21st century art and culture, engaging the broadest possible audience." Kunsthalle Praha’s collection of modern and contemporary art consists of more than 2000 works, thematically focusing on the significant historical movements and tendencies of the 20th and 21st centuries in Central Europe. Described as a “living and evolving” body of work, within an international context, the museum’s holdings primarily consist of the Pudil Family Foundation collection, which has been on long-term loan to the museum. After the establishment of Kunsthalle Praha, Pavlina and Petr Pudil’s collecting strategy has shifted to a public model, focusing on acquisitions, partnerships, and long-term loans, with an emphasis on conservation, research, and presentation. The institution also has acquired collections from Maria and Milan Knížák, which represents a major collection of works from the Fluxus movement, as well as the private collection of Eva and Petr Zeman.
To realise its mission, the museum has developed an international programme of temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art and innovative educational activities. The museum also maintains a range of public programmes for children and adults, which connect its collection to current cultural topics and technological trends. Through its funding, Kunsthalle Praha offers free educational tours to its exhibitions and interactive workshops for students at all levels. In addition, the museum organises courses for the public centred around art history and theory, such as Art 101, given in English, and TransformArt, given in Czech.
Facilities The museum has a total floor space of approximately 5700 square metres. It includes exhibition spaces for 3 galleries, venues for educational programmes and other cultural and social events. A terrace on the roof of the building is open to the public as a viewing café. Other facilities include a booklounge and a design shop. Rooms for depots are located in the basement.
History of the building The Kunsthalle is located below Prague Castle in the Malá Strana district. The building was originally constructed between 1930 and 1931 by the City of Prague Electricity Works as a transformer station. Previously, there was a barrack on the site. The design by architect Vilém Kvasnička was executed in the neoclassical style, which corresponds to the historical character of the area. The Transformation Station was named after the physicist and meteorologist Václav Zenger, a professor at the Czech Technical University in Prague.Hana Hlušičková: . Prague 2001, p. 211 (in Czech)
The building was declared a cultural monument by the Czech Ministry of Culture in April 2015. The owner at the time then sold the building to a real estate company, which is a joint-stock company owned by Petr Pudil and his wife Pavlina. In 2016, the Pudil couple decided to convert the building into an art museum for their private art collection through their non-profit foundation, the Pudil Family Foundation.
The conversion and extension of the building was undertaken by the Prague-based project office Schindler Seko Architekti s.r.o.. During the reconstruction, the building was completely gutted, leaving only the perimeter walls of the original cultural monument.
On 31 October 2022, the reconstruction won the Czech National Architecture Award 2022. Exhibitions YearDatesArtist, collection or projectCurator, curatorial teamExhibition202222 February – 29 August—Peter Weibel, Christelle HavranekKinetismus. 100 Years of Electricity in Art202222 February – 30 May—Vendula HnídkováThe Zenger Transformer Station: Electricity in the City, Electricity in Architecture20221 July – 30 SeptemberKarel Babíček’s CollectionLenka Lindaurová, Christelle HavranekMidnight of Art. Ways of Collecting2022–202329 September – 13 FebruaryGregor HildebrandtChristelle HavranekA Blink of an Eye and the Years are Behind Us2022–202313 October – 8 JanuaryFilip Hodas, Martin Houra, Johana Kroft, Jana Stýblová, Jakub Špaček, Ondřej Zunka & Zünc StudioIva Polanecká (Kunsthalle Praha), Daniel Burda, Mario Kunovský and Martin Pošta (Signal Festival) Invisible Forces2022–202318 December – 14 FebruaryJiří David–The Blue Heart20239 February – 1 MayMarkéta MagidováAndra SilapēterMy Sweet Inedible Planet2023–202423 March – 16 October—Russell FergusonBOHEMIA: History of an Idea, 1950–200020239 June – 10 SeptemberOvidiu Șandor CollectionTevž LogarLOST IN THE MOMENT THAT FOLLOWS2023–202412 October – 19 JanuaryLunchmeat StudioIva Polanecká (Kunsthalle Praha, Aw! Lab)The Grief of Misfit Cathedrals2023–202416 November – 22 AprilElmgreen & DragsetChristelle Havranek, Barbora RopkováREAD20241 March – 3 JuneJohn SanbornBarbora RopkováNotes on Us202430 May – 28 OctoberLucia MoholyMeghan Forbes, Jan Tichy , and Jordan Troeller Exposures202428 June – 13 SeptemberEster GeislerováChristelle Havranek, Denisa VáclavováWhat We Should’ve Said but Didn’t20244 September – 25 NovemberJon RafmanMartina FreitagNine Eyes of Google Street View2024–202510 October – 13 JanuaryUnited Visual ArtistsIva Polanecká (Kunsthalle Praha), Pavel Mrkus and Martin Pošta (Signal Festival)Strange Attractions2024–202528 November – 28 AprilChiharu ShiotaChristelle HavranekThe Unsettled Soul20257 February – 10 MarchSHOTBY.USIva Polanecká Space of Desire (Czech Grand Design 2024)202525 April – 31 AugustKristyna and Marek MildeTheo Carnegy-Tan, Kristyna and Marek MildeCall of the Forest20255 June – 13 OctoberAnna-Eva Bergman & Hans HartungTheo Carnegy-Tan (Kunsthalle Praha), Pierre Wat (Fondation Hartung-Bergman)And We'll Never Be Parted20251 September – 11 OctoberFluxusBarbora Ropková, Štefan TóthDelivered by Post2025–202610 October – 19 JanuaryAlice BucknellLívia Nolasco-RózsásPersistent Worlds2025–202613 November – 9 MarchRoman OndakBarbora Ropková The Day After Yesterday202613 February – 11 Maysikau/pubalovaIva Polanecká ALL THINGS DIGESTING202616 April – 7 SeptemberWilliam KentridgeChristelle HavranekThe Battle Between YES and NO202619 June – 8 OctoberKunsthalle Praha CollectionTevž LogarMemory of Touch: Chapter I Long-term installations
Year Artist Work Curator Location 2022 Mark Dion Cabinet of Electrical Curiosities Christelle Havranek Third floor, near the café 2023 schwestern (Iveta Šalamounová & Monika Cihlářová) Watchtower Martina Freitag Tower, the highest point of the building 2026 Lexová&Smetana Pin Martina Freitag Building exterior
References
External links Kunsthalle Praha on the pages of the Pudil Family Foundation