Czech Museum of Puppetry and Circus in Prachatice

In May of this year, the National Museum opened its new exhibition, the Museum of Czech Puppetry and Circus. The original library space in the Great Square in Prachatice was chosen to host this exhibition.

The exhibition is spread across three floors. The entrance hall and ticket office are located on the ground floor. The main exhibition occupies the second and third floors. The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the history of Czech puppetry, from the earliest puppeteers through family and community theaters to professional stages. In addition to traditional devils and buffoons, visitors will encounter puppets made according to the designs of M. Aleš, V. Sucharda, or J. Trnka. Within the exhibition, it is possible to view famous puppet play productions in historical theaters. The second part - in the only circus museum in the Czech Republic - displays not only posters, photographs, and documents, but visitors will find themselves in a circus ring with horizontal bars, a Persian pole, unicycles, juggling equipment, and circus costumes. Included in the exhibition is a motorcycle that the Bears rode with Cibulka.

The exhibition spaces of the Museum of Czech Puppetry and Circus are located in the original municipal library premises. Due to the different use of space, it was necessary to newly address the lighting in the exhibition areas. One of the requirements for the task was at least partial use of the original lighting fixtures. For this reason, the basic and emergency lighting system consists of original fixtures, while the exhibition lighting system consists of new fixtures.

Lighting Concept
The lighting system in the exhibition areas consists of three independent lighting systems: the basic, exhibition, and emergency lighting systems.
The basic lighting system is used for carrying out cleaning tasks, for lighting during changes of the exhibition, and for lighting during inspections of the exhibition spaces. It is controlled by switches at the doors of each room. This system is designed for an average illuminance level E_m = 100 lx. On the ground floor, this system includes fixtures that illuminate the ticket office workstations with permanent occupation. This workstation is designed for an average illuminance value E_m = 300 lx. The total installed power of this system is P_iZ =1.8 kW.

The exhibition lighting system consists of two parts: external and internal. The external exhibition system is used for lighting exhibits from greater distances, for illuminating labels and accompanying texts. This system consists of Metro fixtures for halogen reflector bulbs 75 W / 230V with half-beam angles of 10° and 30°, placed in three-circuit tracks Standard, as well as independently suspended Cestello fixtures 3x50 W. For shorter distances and larger items, the Metro fixtures are supplemented with diffusing glasses and reflectors that allow for changes in the shape of the light intensity curve. Two of the track system circuits are connected through power dimmers, creating a step regulation system for the fixtures in the tracks (100%, 70%, 60%).

The second part of the exhibition lighting system consists of fixtures placed in showcases or directly in freely installed theaters. For illuminating larger showcases and theaters, fluorescent fixtures of 36 W and 58 W are used, and for smaller showcases, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and optical fibers. This part of the exhibition lighting is connected to a DALI control system, which allows for continuous regulation of the light output of light sources in the range of 10 - 100%. The exhibition lighting system is centrally controlled from the ticket office and control room via a touch control panel. The exhibition lighting system allows, due to its designed regulation (continuous and step), to set illuminance levels on the exhibits, according to the request of the exhibition's author in the range of 50 - 150 lx. The installed power of the entire exhibition lighting system is P_iE = 9.0 kW. Given the regulation of this system, the actual power consumption of this system will be approximately P_iEreg ~ 6.0 kW.
The original emergency lighting system has been preserved. Only non-functional fixtures have been repaired, and new fixtures with pictograms have been added.

Protection of Exhibits
One of the important principles in lighting exhibition spaces is protecting exhibits from harmful effects of light radiation. Four basic parameters influence the damage to exhibits:

• Spectral sensitivity of the exhibits
• Amount of incident radiation
• Spectral composition of the incident radiation
• Duration of exposure

The first parameter cannot be influenced, but it serves to classify the exhibit into a certain sensitivity category. For this category, microclimatic conditions are then established or recommended, under which the exhibit can be displayed. These conditions are practically described by the following quantities:

1. Illuminance value E (lx)
2. Content of UV radiation Ø_e,UV (µW/lm)
3. Duration of exposure t (hours)

In addition to adhering to the established illuminance values, light sources must be used that do not contain radiation in the area below 380 nm, or only in minimal amounts up to 10 µW/lm (this is the minimum measurable value by current measuring technology). The exhibition lighting design uses three types of light sources with the following parameters:

1. Halogen reflector bulb (HALOPAR, Osram) with reduced UV radiation component: Ø_e,UV=7 µW/lm. The chromatic temperature of halogen bulbs is T_cn =3000 K and the color rendering index R_a = 100. An important fact is that dimming halogen bulbs changes the color tone of the emitted light, thus altering the chromatic temperature.

2. Fluorescent fixtures equipped with lamps with reduced UV radiation content (LUMILUX UVS, Osram) are used for lighting part of the showcases and theaters. The UV component content is Ø_e,UV < 1 µW/lm. The chromatic temperature of these fluorescent lamps is T_cn = 4000 K and the color rendering index R_a >90.

3. LED modules are used to illuminate part of the showcases. By the principle of light generation in these light sources, the proportion of the UV component in the emitted light is minimal. It is generally stated that the content of UV radiation is Ø_e,UVW/lm. The chromatic temperature of the used diodes is T =7 cn = 4700K and the color rendering index R_a > 80.

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About the Project:
Author and Curator of the Exhibition: PhDr. Vlasta Koubská, PhDr. Hanuš Jordán
Architect of the Exhibition: akad. arch. Vlastimil Vagaday, g.l. architects
Lighting Design: Petr Žák, Etna s.r.o.
Fixtures: iGuzzini, SAAS
Showcases: František Záhrobský, Revyko
Exhibition Accessories: Luděk Novotný, LND
Production: Ing. Jiří Gregor

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