Pragovka

Among the first major cultural events that made the area of the former industrial district in Vysočany known to the wider public was Kolben Open. This event was initiated in 2014 at the impetus of the local art community based in the Pragovka studios, a building that originally served as the central warehouse of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs, since about 2010. The Pragovka Gallery exhibition platform can therefore be seen as the culmination of several years of work by a local informal group of artists and designers, whose activities were followed up in the autumn of 2017 by Pragovka for Art, z. s. This association, which manages the leased exhibition spaces Pragovka Gallery and The White Room, considers 2018 to be the year when its own (not only exhibition) programme was launched. The exhibition programme was organized at Pragovka already in the second half of 2017, but only on an informal basis (The White Room), or under the umbrella of the Pragovka Art District project, i.e. by the operator of the premises. 

The construction of the industrial building complex dates back to the 1930s. The central warehouse of the Ministry of Posts and Telegraphs was erected in 1931 and 1932 based on the design of architect Josef Kalous, a student of Jan Kotěra, in cooperation with the then successful construction company of Karel Skorkovský specializing in concrete structures. The second floor of the warehouse was set up in the 1950s, when the Praga car brand, from which the name of the place is derived, opened plants in the area. After WWII, however, the company was nationalised and the premises became the headquarters of ČKD (this abbreviation originally referred to the names Českomoravská-Kolben-Daněk) – one of the largest engineering companies in the former Czechoslovakia. Hall E, housing Pragovka Gallery, The White Room and art studios, the chimney of the engineering plant and Hall 19 was listed as a cultural monument in 2003.

In its prime, Pragovka Art District housed over 120 studios; with about 80 remaining after the reconstruction. Its residents include Adam Štech, David Helán, Vladimír Merta, Pasta Oner, Anna Hulačová and Anežka Hošková. The growing art community and the existence of large empty spaces gave rise to two non-commercial galleries that have gradually emerged with the aim to present (not only) locally produced art: The White Room (2017) and Pragovka Gallery (2018). Pragovka for Art, z. s., the operator of these exhibition platforms that take care of the production and programming of artistic events and whose president is Lucie Nováčková aims to “create a place of action, a creative incubator, which will be a lively venue providing rich cultural enjoyment for the general public throughout the exhibition” (http://www.pragovka.com/cs/residence/pragovka-for-art, accessed 22 December 2020).  This aim is implemented as part of a regular programme accompanying the individual exhibitions and annual events, including the already mentioned annual Kolben Open event, which features guided tours, lectures, discussions, creative and other workshops, concerts, open studios with artists’ participation, educational programmes, and other events such as the Summer ArtBazaar and the Christmas ArtBazaar. In addition to these events directly related to the operation of exhibition spaces or art studios and organized by Pragovka for Art, z. s., Pragovka Art District also hosts concerts, authors’ readings and an open-air cinema. In addition, a large part of the commercial spaces is available for rent for a wide range of other cultural events. There is also a café and an indoor skate park.

The White Room, a space located on the first floor of Building E and historically older than the Pragovka Gallery, serves as a gallery for short- and long-term Pragovka residents and their guests (among the exhibiting artists were Kateřina Olivová, Anežka Hošková, Vladimír Merta, Kryštof Kaplan, Pavel Šimíček, Tomáš Ruller, Pavel Tichoň and Robert Palúch). It is a purely creative space operating on the so-called booking system, i.e. on the basis of individual applications. In addition, the aforementioned space does not require a curatorial guidance and over thirty exhibitions have been held here to date. In the past, it was also the temporary home of the White Pearl Gallery (now called Karpuchina Gallery based in the centre of Prague).

Pragovka Gallery on the ground floor is conceived primarily as a platform for the presentation of external projects by Czech and foreign students and graduates of art schools, members of art groups, studios and those involved in curatorial projects. Over the course of its existence the 562 m² area was divided into Entry, Rear and Pop-up spaces. The Entry is small and often used for projects fit for a more intimate atmosphere, solo presentations or conceptual exhibitions. In contrast, the back part of the Rear production pillared hall (the largest exhibition space in the complex) hosts larger-scale projects, often curated thematically and taking into account the non-conventional character of the site. The exhibitions here last an average of five weeks, which is significantly longer than what is available for exhibitions in the other spaces. Pop-up, the third and final space, is owing to its central spatial layout and lighting conditions used to present media such as painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture. The Pragovka Gallery exhibition programme plan is drawn up by a nine-member committee of residents and invited experts on the basis of a two-round open call. More than sixty projects have been presented to the public so far.

The historically first exhibition Vzpružná nehybnost, Bez tváře and Teritorium in Pragovka Gallery worked with the traditional concept of suspended canvases on the walls of the white cube. This was followed by more spatially complex installations such as Silné a slabé karty, Burn My Tent till the Rent, Corporate Bodies and Last Aid. On display were exhibitions of a studio nature including Vezme to ruka (Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava), Avšak když nastane noc, změnil se zármutek v radost (Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem), Darujte mi prosím jednu vaši vizi (Department of Art, Visual Culture and Textile Studies of the University of Hradec Králové), Liquid Lingea (Academy of Fine Arts in Prague), Zverimex (Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague) and Labyrinth (Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem). Group exhibitions are regularly held here, such as Nikdy to nebylo, pořád to je dealing with the topic of utopia, Penetrace presenting contemporary painting tendencies and curated by Jiří Černický, Nostalgie jako avantgarda and Beuys Don’t Cry drawing on the online environment. The gallery’s exhibition plan also incorporates exhibitions of photographs (Young American by Marie Tomanová, Deset moří by the graduates of the Studio of Photography at the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem and Chiméra by Vladimíra Kotra) and it also works with the presentation of new media like in the case of Transfer, V jiném světě, What Is Ours, A Girl Named Sandoz, V pořádku, asi určitě, Choreografie zápasu and Basic Instinct Special Feat. Noteworthy projects working with traditional media include Muzeum zítřejšího počasí, Superpozice, Postbarokní folklór, Wonderlust, Kosmos Open Hours, Nová gravitace II,+50°C, Age of No Heroes Part 2, Elf Slashed with a Sword. A regular show in the form of a resident exhibition launched in conjunction with the Kolben Open event every two years presents works by residents of local art studios – most recently in 2019, when fifty-three artists participated in a show called Flying Inn under the guidance of curator Karel Srp. Exhibitions organized under the banner of Pragovka Gallery are also sometimes held at Pražská továrna and Jídelna. In 2020, during the pandemic, Pragovka Gallery, like other cultural institutions, prepared an online programme whose interface allows you to visit the exhibitions Looking Through, Everlasting and Korporealita, etc., at least virtually through a 3D model.

In 2020, one of the most architecturally valuable buildings in the complex, Building E, which houses both Pragovka Gallery and The White Room, undergoes renovation to include new retail units, cafés and restaurants, sports and training facilities, and shared workspaces and offices. Housing units for five thousand people are to be built in the complex itself. British investor Mount Capital is behind the project, while Building E is owned by Pragovka s.r.o. This plan for a large-scale reconstruction of the Pragovka Art District was presented by the Czech delegation and the Mayor of Prague Adriana Krnáčová at the major real estate fair MIPIM in Cannes in 2017. According to Lucie Nováčková, this reconstruction plan is the legacy of an external organizational platform that operated Pragovka Art District in the past, and the then non-existing Pragovka for Art, z. s. did not participate in creating this vision or in the reconstruction of the building, being merely a tenant of Pragovka Gallery and The White Room. 

The prospects of future use of the space have changed several times, according to the original vision of the Jakub Cígler Architects studio, Praga automobile museum and a concert hall are also to be built on the site.  The V19 building – according to the then Mayor of Prague, Adriana Krnáčová – was to serve as the Kunsthalle of the National Gallery, but the NG distanced itself from this project (https://www.artantiques.cz/vysocanska-la-defense, accessed 22 December 2020). Since 2015, when some of Pragovka’s tenants stood up in opposition to the reconstruction and the commercial focus of the gallery, the architect of the complex (now TaK Architects s.r.o.) was also replaced. With regard to the preservation of the art studios despite the planned reconstruction, this renovation was divided into several stages, but some of the tenants of the studios do not entirely welcome the transformation of the area into a frequented place, fearing an increase in rents, the loss of privacy and peace of mind necessary for creative work, and last but not least, the expanding gentrification. 

Pragovka Art District offers a rich cultural programme to the general public and residents of Prague 9 and is also a place where you can get directly introduced to the contemporary art scene. However, the question remains, whether the representatives of Pragovka for Art z. s. will be able to agree with the owners’ representatives on the conditions related to the artists’ further presence in the complex and whether most of the local genius loci will not become lost due to the reconstruction.

2020

Kryštof Kaplan – Korporealita (The White Room)

Last Aid (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Corporate Bodies (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Sofie Švejdová – +50 °C (Pragovka Gallery Pop-up)

Radim Langer – Bafana Bafana (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

Martin Lacko ¬– Elf Slashed with a Sword (Pragovka Gallery Pop-up)

What Is Ours (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

2019

Anežka Hošková – Lucifer's The Light Of The World IV (The White Room)

Mimořádné vstupy IV (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Marie Tomanová – Young American (Pragovka Gallery Pop-up)

Labyrinth (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Tomáš Ruller: Whitewashing (The White Room)

Tomáš Bryscejn, Tania Nikulina – Burn My Tent till the Rent (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

Flying Inn

Monika Žáková: Nová gravitace I (Pragovka Gallery Pop-up)

Penetrace (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Lea Petříková – A Girl Named Sandoz (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

Andrea Mikysková, Ivana Pavlíčková, Patrik Kriššák: Beuys Don ́t Cry (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

2018

Aleš Zapletal – Muzeum zítřejšího počasí (Pragovka Gallery Pop-up)

Liquid Lingea (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Marika Volfová – Temporary Paradises (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

Petra Hudcová, Hinda Weiss – Going Places (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

Avšak když nastala noc, změnil se zármutek v radost (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Chiasmus

David Pešat, Ondřej Maleček – Doma na výletě (The White Room)

Jana Vojnárová, Nikola Brabcová – Oblek, kterému nic nevadilo (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

Jan Boháč a Jonáš Richter – Silné a slabé karty (Pragovka Gallery Rear)

Adrian Altmann, Olga Krykun – Basic Instinct Special Feat (Pragovka Gallery Entry)

2017

Petra Švecová, Radka Bodzevič Doubravová – Teritorium

Jakub Janovský, Pavel Tichoň – Bez tváře

Peter Cábocký – Vzpružná nehybnost