The state will purchase a plot of land for 8.5 million CZK for a new art center in Olomouc

Prague – Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD) will inform the government on Monday about the assignment of a public contract for the purchase of land for the Museum of Art in Olomouc. The plot of land, measuring just under 600 m², is intended for the construction of the long-prepared Central European Forum Olomouc, a place for the presentation of Central European art. The estimated value of the contract is 8.5 million crowns without tax, and it will be awarded in a negotiated procedure without publication, the Ministry's press department told ČTK. The government already allocated 593 million crowns for the construction two years ago.

The contracting authority will be the Olomouc museum as a contributory organization of the Ministry of Culture. The land is in a protected heritage site and has a building on it. The submission report states that the purchase of the land will unify a strategic location in the city center, prepared for the construction of the Central European Forum Olomouc. It will also expand the space for projects of the Museum of Art Olomouc, which could increase visitor attractiveness.

The SEFO project, which the museum has been planning for more than ten years, aims to capture the post-war development of visual arts in Central Europe. Initially, the museum tried to obtain funding from European grants, which was unsuccessful, and the project stalled for a long time. A few years ago, the government included it in its investment plans.

Former Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (ČSSD) in 2019 accused the museum's leadership of violating the Public Procurement Act during the project's preparation. A few weeks later, he dismissed the museum's director Michal Soukup along with the then-director of the National Gallery Jiří Fajt. He also filed a criminal complaint against him, which the police shelved, and Staněk's successor Zaorálek apologized to Soukup. Soukup did not return to the museum's leadership.

The goal of the Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO) is to seek connections, as well as differences and specifics in various areas of visual culture in the broader region of Central Europe from the late 19th to the 21st century, states the Olomouc museum on its website. The project involves experts from various fields of humanities together with contemporary artists. The forum's activities rely on thematic exhibitions using the collections of the Museum of Art Olomouc and long-term loans from partner institutions. Exhibitions and displays will always be complemented by meetings, conferences, and workshops addressing common issues of the Central European cultural region.

The new building is intended to provide exhibition spaces and facilities necessary for the operation of the museum. This primarily includes larger repositories for the ever-growing collections, as well as a new library and study room. The new central repository will be able to accommodate up to 200,000 works of art; the museum currently owns 90,860 collection items with a market value of approximately two billion crowns.