Interested parties can apply for the rental of Špálovka until April 2nd

Prague - Interested parties can apply for the rental of Prague's Václav Špála Gallery, an exhibition hall with a long tradition and prestige, until April 2nd. During the regular period announced by Prague 1, only one application was received. The current tenant in the gallery will finish in May, and by the end of that month, Prague 1 would like to know his successor according to previous information.
    The town hall announced the competition in mid-March at its press conference, which lasted from February 19th to March 22nd. Some people from the artistic community complained that Prague 1 did not adequately present the opportunity to rent the gallery.
    According to reports, the current tenant, the Semma agency, is leaving Špálovka after two years for financial reasons. The town hall selected it in 2007 in the same competition, and the contract was to run until 2017. At the beginning of its operation in early 2008, it promised to bring famous foreign artists to the gallery and wanted to finance its operations from profits from its commercial activities.
    Prague 1 chose the Semma agency despite the fact that the commission of experts recommended the second applicant, who was also willing to match the rent offered by Semma. The agency reconstructed the gallery space for more than two million crowns and pays over 650,000 crowns annually in rent.
    The exhibition hall named after the famous Czech painter was established in 1957. From 1965 to 1970, it was home to the significant art theorist Jindřich Chalupecký. However, in the 70s and 80s, the gallery hosted exhibitions of official art acceptable to the then regime.
    After 1989, a quality program returned to the gallery. From the mid-90s, curator Jaroslav Krbůšek had it rented, and until 2002, it remained a progressive exhibition space under his leadership. However, the Czech Art Fund Foundation, which had rented the building from a housing enterprise in liquidation, terminated his lease and took care of the program itself. It did not focus on the exhibition program but rented the gallery freely.
    The art community protested against the decline of the gallery, but it was not until 2007 that a call for applications for a new tenant was announced. The transfer of ownership to Prague 1 was completed only recently after several years, and the town hall has already announced a new competition.