It is just under a month ago that some of the countryâs most prominent artists and art critics sent a letter to the government calling for a change at the top of the National Gallery.
Its signatories accused Milan KnÞák, who has been Czech-born architect Kaplicky adapts NK design for original plot ...
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Czechs critical of work of their MEPs-poll ... the head of the gallery since 1999, of economic mismanagement, and leading the gallery, and by extension the Czech art world, into isolation. On Tuesday, Mr KnÞák reacted to the petition calling for his removal.
Over 50 of the countryâs artists, curators and critics put their signature to the petition calling for Milan KnÞákâs removal from the helm of the National Gallery. One of the petitionâs instigators, Lenka Lindaurová, told Czech Radio what motivated her to speak out:
âA long-term and ever-increasing dissatisfaction with the way that the countryâs most important artistic institution â its National Gallery â is being run. Criticism of the gallery has been abounding for years and finally we thought we had to act. Mr KnÞák has been head of the gallery for too long. He is leading this country, and this institution, into complete isolation, and the gallery is stagnating under his leadership.â
The petitionâs signatories have called on the Culture Ministry to stage a transparent international selection process to find a suitable replacement for Mr KnÞák. The Culture Ministry says that it is willing to take petitionersâ complaints into consideration, but that it will stage no such competition to find a new gallery head. For his part, Milan KnÞák says he is unworried by the petition:
âYou know, if you want to change anything, you need some facts, some real arguments. And what I have read in that petition are just peopleâs feelings. And that is not enough.â
What do you say to claims that the National Gallery is increasingly self-absorbed and isolated from the rest of the art world?
âIâm proud of that. And the National Gallery does collaborate with many, many other galleries and presents its art works all over the world. But anyway, that is not the point. What I am proud of is that the National Gallery has its own face. It is different from other museums, and I think that this is very important. We donât want to be the same as other museums all over the world, we want to be specific, and we are specific, and Iâm proud of that.â
And what about claims that the gallery is being badly financially managed?
âThis is not true, because when I came to the gallery, it had many financial problems. It had debts running into millions of crowns, its financial situation was bad. We had to straighten it out. Now the gallery is in a good financial condition. Of course the money we get from the state is not a big amount, and that is a problem, but the finances of the National Gallery are in good order.â
So, finally, this petition has not led you to consider resigning?
âNo, of course not, there is no reason for that.â
It doesnât look like Mr KnÞák is going anywhere without a fight, but this ongoing feud between him and some of the countryâs most prominent artists certainly isnât painting too pretty a picture of the Czech art world.
(radio-Prague)
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