New €35m Kunsthalle Praha gallery backed by private collectors opens in the Czech capital
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Loading... - Anthony Morgan
- 28 Feb 2022
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A new Modern and contemporary art institution housed in a vast former electrical substation, which opens in Prague this week, has joined the ranks of the Czech Republic’s few privately run museums. Spanning 5,700 sq. m in the heart of the capital, the Kunsthalle Praha building was purchased eight years ago by the non-profit Pudil Family Foundation established by the collecting couple Petr and Pavlína Pudil.
The foundation has funded the €35m refurbishment of the 1930s substation building by the Czech architects Schindler Seko. Petr Pudil, who is the co-founder of BPD partners, a firm with interests in property development and agrarian chemicals, said at a press briefing (18 February) that “Prague needs contemporary architecture that responds to the need of the [city’s] citizens”, adding that the former president, Václav Havel bolstered the Czech Republic, “a small country which is at the spiritual crossroads of Europe”.
At the briefing, Kunsthalle representatives revealed the scale of the new museum, outlining that 2,300 construction workers were employed on the project. Asked about the museum’s impact on the environment, Ivana Goossen, the institution’s director, says that there “are limited things we can do with a [listed] heritage building…having two layers of windows helps reduce [heat] loss and we have a sophisticated method of measuring the temperature. My main goal for 2022 is to establish our carbon footprint through the necessary data.”
The Czech government has not contributed financially towards the Kunsthalle Praha. Operational costs will be supported by grants from the Pudil Family Foundation, although the Kunsthalle will increasingly seek out other partners in future, say the Pudils and Goossen in a joint statement.
Kunsthalle Praha’s programme will encompass six to eight exhibitions a year developed in co-operation with Czech and international artists, curators and institutions. Programming will also be covered through earned revenue from ticket and membership sales, venue hire for events and the shop, as well as corporate partnerships. There is an entrance fee of 260 koruna (around €11) for visitors aged over 26. Read More…
