Go back to the time when Czech Republic and Slovakia were one country. Photo: Uměleckoprůmyslové Muzeum Brno
Brno, Nov 23 (BD) – Two new exhibitions that grasp the key elements of life in the former Czechoslovakia open tonight at Uměleckoprůmyslové Muzeum.
Paneland: Czechoslovak Greatest Social Experiment
Historians view the normalization period (1969–87) as a program to completely eliminate the influence of 1968 Prague Spring liberating political forces and turn the country back to “normal”.
This period was big social experiment which brought a huge portion of the population into changed living and social conditions to which it was necessary to respond. A rapid built-up of a new style housing, so called “panelák”, was a response to fast urbanization and changes in society.
“Panelák” is a colloquial term for a high-rise constructed of pre-fabricated, pre-stressed concrete in the former Czechoslovakia and elsewhere in the world.
Between 1959 and 1995, “paneláky” [plural] containing over 1 million flats were built in what is now the Czech Republic.
Nowadays, “paneláky” house some 3.5 million people, or about one-third of the country’s population.
Paneland exhibition focuses on history and transformation of “paneláky” in the eyes of several generations of artists. You can look forward to seeing works of popular Czech artists Kateřina Šedá, Josef Bolf, Maxim Velčovský, and David Vávra.
The exhibition involves interactive games for both children and adults.
You can find more information and photos here (official web).
The Automatic Exhibition: The Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 67
The second newly opened exhibition recalls Expo 67 — an exposition which took place fifty years ago at the Montreal World Exhibition. It was the second of three post-war presentations of the former Czechoslovakia at the world’s fairs.
With only few exhibit material surviving, the exhibition combines a visual and an art-historic elements.
Find more about the exhibition here (official web).
The exhibitions will be open until March, 2018 from 10 AM to 6 PM. On Tuesdays, it will be closed.
Place: Uměleckoprůmyslové Muzeum Brno, Husova 14.
