<p>It seems that Milan Knížák is also applying for the position of head of the National Gallery.</p>

Prague - Current director of the National Gallery in Prague (NG) Milan Knížák is likely to apply for the position of director. This information was obtained by ČTK from several sources informed about the selection process announced by the Ministry of Culture. Knížák has been running the gallery since 1999. A total of eight people applied for the competition, one of whom was disqualified by the ministry for not meeting formal requirements.
    The ministry does not want to comment on the names of the applicants; members of the selection committee received only their materials without personal details and with signatures removed. NG also does not want to comment on Knížák's potential participation in the competition; the director himself is currently abroad, said NG spokesperson Petra Jungwirthová to ČTK.
    Applicants for the director's position were required to submit their project on how to lead NG and a motivation letter. One of the submissions reportedly includes information that the applicant has led NG since 1999. The only person who fits this description is Milan Knížák.
    It was already known that three of the five personalities invited by the ministry to participate in the competition had applied. These include the director of the Collection of Ancient Art at NG Vít Vlnas, his predecessor Jiří Fajt, and the director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno Marek Pokorný. Director of the Rudolfinum Gallery Petr Nedoma and rector of the AAAD Pavel Liška did not apply.
    According to today's Lidové noviny, other candidates include curator of the Czech Museum of Fine Arts (now the Central Bohemian Gallery) Richard Drury, gallery owner Monika Burian, Nicole Šťávová from Christie’s auction house, who is the daughter of controversial businessman Josef Šťáva, and cultural worker from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Vilma Anýžová. Both Burian and Drury confirmed their participation in the competition to ČTK today.
    According to ČTK's findings, Šťávová was disqualified from the competition for formal reasons, and Anýžová, who is now head of the cultural section at the Czech Embassy in Washington, told ČTK today that she did not apply for the competition. Her name was mentioned in February during a meeting of a broader committee at the Ministry of Culture on a long list of people who should be approached in connection with the selection process. "I thanked them for their trust, but I would like to continue using my experience within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is why I did not submit any application for the selection process," she stated.
    The selection committee will meet on April 14. The committee may recommend one candidate to the minister, a ranking of several candidates, or may recommend none at all.
    Minister of Culture Václav Riedlbauch would like to select a new director of NG before the May elections. It is not yet clear when the new director could assume office. Knížák has repeatedly stated that he would prefer to remain at the helm of NG until the end of next year. Riedlbauch also speaks about the necessity to maintain the institution's continuity; he did not provide a timeline for Knížák's successor.
    The committee was formed by the ministry with a group of experts created for this purpose. The experts suggested nine names, a third of which were foreign specialists. However, the ministry later published a list of 12 members. The ratio of Czech to foreign experts was maintained, but three additional people were added to the committee - director of the modern and contemporary art collection at NG Tomáš Vlček, member of the scientific council of NG Václav Pavlíček, and director of the Albertina Gallery in Vienna Klaus Albrecht Schröder; two of them are connected to NG. The committee is expected to be chaired by the dean of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University Michal Stehlík.