Prague plans to restore the outdoor gallery on the retaining wall under Letná

Prague - The capital city plans to revive the operation of the outdoor gallery on the retaining wall under Letenské sady after a three-year hiatus. The intention to loan this space to the c2c association of curators and critics was announced by the city on its official notice board. The first exhibition could open as early as this autumn.
    The gallery, called Artwall or also Na zdi, operated on the waterfront of Captain Jaroš and Edvard Beneš from 2005 to 2008. It utilized recesses in the retaining wall for exhibitions. The wall was lent to artists by the Prague City Council, but after the exhibition "Collective Identity" by the Guma Guar group, they withdrew the loan.
    The exhibition parodied the city council's campaign to support the organization of the Olympics in Prague. Instead of athletes, however, "in the national team" the artists exhibited the faces of people associated with crime and the underworld, such as the murdered businessman František Mrázek.
    The new city administration is in favor of reviving the gallery, and the plan has been supported by Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS). According to the publicly released document, the loan should be for the years 2011 and 2012, with the gallery focusing on modern art.
    According to the website of the c2c association of curators and critics, a pilot project will be launched this year, with five exhibition projects potentially taking place in 2012. The association is also accepting proposals for the pilot project until the end of September. The main curators of the Artwall gallery will be Zuzana Štefková and Petr Motyčka.
    "We expect projects that successfully deal with the specific conditions of this type of public art presentation, i.e., we recommend respecting the character of the place where viewers move almost exclusively in cars and trams and have no opportunity to stop in front of the exhibited works," the members of the association stated online.