The museum will be built by SEFO according to the original design by Šépka

Olomouc – The long-planned exhibition of Central European visual art (SEFO) will be built by the Museum of Art definitively in the gap in Denisova Street, according to the original design of architect Jan Šépka. The decision was announced today by the museum's management and the Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD). According to the museum director Ondřej Zatloukal, the decision is in line with the recommendation of the Czech Chamber of Architects and the National Heritage Institute. Last January, the government allocated 593 million crowns for the construction of the extraordinary exhibition with a futuristic appearance.

According to the museum director, the reasons for the decision were pragmatic, ideological, and conceptual. "Among the pragmatic reasons is the long legislative process we went through. The government decided based on what we presented in the legislative process, which was Jan Šépka's study, for which 593 million crowns were allocated. Time is also important. We are now more than a year behind schedule, not counting the 12 years of preparation," the director said today to ČTK. Among the ideological and conceptual reasons are the recommendations of experts and the urgent need for a new building for the museum's activities.

According to Zatloukala, the museum is waiting to complete the preparation of materials for the selection procedure for the general designer. "The next period of 1.5 years will involve project activities for the building permit and the implementation project. After that, construction will begin, which should be completed in 2025. Then we will start moving our collections and preparing permanent exhibitions so that we can open to the public in 2026," the director added.

The decision on the form of the Central European Forum Olomouc followed a long discussion regarding three options – to use the vast space of the abandoned Hanácká barracks, to announce an architectural competition for a new exhibition design, or to utilize the original design by Jan Šépka, who proposed to fill the gap in Denisova Street with a futuristic building as early as 2009.

Last year, former Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (ČSSD) entered the SEFO plans, filing a criminal complaint against the former museum director regarding the purchase of allegedly overpriced land, which the police later shelved. Zatloukala’s predecessor, Michal Soukup, was simultaneously dismissed from his position. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Culture, it was decided that an architectural competition would be held for SEFO. However, experts opposed the tender, and the museum would also have to deal with obligations to the original study creator Jan Šépka. Today, he accepted the decision as redress. He told journalists that he is finalizing the study, which also considers the option of utilizing the existing tram depot and providing access to SEFO from the courtyard area of Kačení Street.

SEFO is set to offer exhibition spaces for artworks from across Central Europe and the facilities necessary for the museum's operation. This primarily concerns larger repositories for the ever-growing collections or a new library and study room. The new central repository is expected to accommodate up to 200,000 artworks; currently, the museum owns 90,860 collection items with a market value of approximately two billion crowns. "If this succeeds, I will be happy," said the founder of the SEFO idea, former museum director Pavel Zatloukal, to ČTK today.