Why Do We Need the National Gallery?
- Where: Václav Havel Library, Ostrovní 13, Prague 110 00
- When: April 27, 2016, 19:00 – 21:00
More than 30,000 people attended celebrations of the 220th anniversary of the foundation of the National Gallery in Prague. What is preventing the NG from always being such a draw? What is “national” about it? Does anybody believe any more that “the spirit of the nation can be elevated through works of art”? And do we have any need whatever for a large state art gallery?
The post-1989 development of the National Gallery and the Slovak National Gallery, expectations during the 1990s, comparisons with other national collecting institutions and the current Czech and Slovak situations will be discussed by:
Jiří Fajt (director of the NG in Prague) and Alexandra Kusá (director of the Slovak National Gallery).
The debate will be chaired by art theoretician and historian Milena Bartlová.