The novelty of the Chalupecký Prize is a new jury and auction

Eva Koťátková

Prague - The prestigious art competition for the Jindřich Chalupecký Award has entered its 19th year today. A new feature is the new international jury and the auction of works by the five nominated finalists, which the organizers announced at a press conference today. The finalists will be selected by the commission by June 30. Their exhibition will take place at the House of Lords from Kunštát in Brno from October 22 to November 23. The winner of this year's edition will traditionally be announced by the jury by mid-November.
    The auction of the final works should take place during the Brno showcase; the organizers would also like to involve some betting companies to set odds on the laureate. There is also consideration for the online publication of the preparations for the final exhibition on the internet. The award is important for all participants in the competition, as indicated by the chairwoman of the Jindřich Chalupecký Society, Charlotta Kotiková, as it delineates the breadth of Czech visual art in an international context.
    Candidates for the award can be nominated until April 30 by a group of curators and art theorists, but artists can also apply themselves. The new jury consists of independent curators, German Suzanne Altmann, American Elizabeth M. Grady, the rector of the Prague Academy of Art, Architecture and Design Pavel Liška, the director of the Polish Museum of Modern Art Joanna Mytkowská, artist Jan Merta, Jana Oravcová from the Bratislava Academy of Performing Arts, and critic Jiří Ptáček. The jury changes every three years, and according to Kotiková, it is important that it consists of independent experts.
    The laureate will receive a six-week scholarship in New York, a check worth 50,000 crowns to support artistic development, and an additional 100,000 crowns for the realization of an exhibition, project, or catalog. Last year, the prestigious Chalupecký Award was granted to twenty-five-year-old artist Eva Koťátková, who uniquely combined performance and sculpture in her work. "The exchange of opinions, views, and experiences is very important for an artistic career," emphasized Kotiková.
    Koťátková's work has drawn on the tradition of conceptual art from the 1960s. Her performances, objects, and drawings are characterized by a dadaistically playful sense of humor. "The award brought me significant attention, which I was not used to, and it is nice that people are interested in my work," said Koťátková to ČTK today. She presented a competition video projection documenting the experiment last autumn at the Prague Gallery Jelení. During it, she spent several days in a small room focusing on themes such as home, everyday life, personal space, and isolation.
    She reconfigured the room multiple times, creating obstacles for herself in the form of tunnels made from plywood or barricading herself with planks in the corner of the room. The record of her performance was complemented at the exhibition titled "Za mezi nad pod v (Pokoj)" with objects made from reused items and drawings that arose during the experiment.
    Koťátková is preparing an exhibition for June at the Václav Špála Gallery in Prague. Its theme will again be a cluster of drawings, objects, and video documentation, this time from the environment of the primary school she attended. The exhibition will also be located in the Brno gallery G99. In September, the laureate plans to spend two months in New York.