Acquisition Program for Collecting Institutions
This new program supports regional institutions by providing them with funds to acquire works by contemporary artists for their collections. It aims to accelerate systemic change and strengthen trust between artists, institutions, and philanthropists.
This new program supports regional institutions by providing them with funds to acquire works by contemporary artists for their collections. It aims to accelerate systemic change and strengthen trust between artists, institutions, and philanthropists.
Announcement
of results
For the 2024 pilot year, the NSU Acquisition Program raised 1,230,200 Kč.
The main philanthropists were Veronika & Libor Winkler as well as Ladislav Ornst and René Rohan from Art Hub Artefin. The target amount was reached thanks to a donation from the Benetheo Foundation, a gift from the Kmentová Zoubek Foundation fund, financial gifts from individual donors, and revenue from the operation of NSU’s foundation building.
An Open Call was announced on June 1, 2024. A total of 17 collecting institutions applied for support to acquire a total of 36 works. The total purchase price of 4,905,220 Kč included a 20% contribution from the applicant, amounting to total contribution of 3,923,600 Kč requested from the fund. No application was rejected on formal grounds.
On August 2nd, 2024, the NSU Board of Directors confirmed the proposal of the selection committee put forward on July 30th. The committee, made up of Radek Wohlmuth (committee chairman), Barbora Hájková, Pavlína Morganová, Jiří Ptáček, and Jan Zálešák, evaluated applications for foundation funds for acquiring contemporary art in 2024 and recommended supporting the requests of nine institutions for the acquisition of a total of 15 works.
Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb
Rafani / Cause, Hana Puchová / Still Life, Daniel Hanzlík / Fragment
City Museum and Gallery Polička
Veronika Šrek Bromová / Times Between Times, Marek Rejent / Reclining Woman
Regional Gallery of Liberec
Dagmar Šubrtová / Burning Heart, Dagmar Šubrtová / Black Egg
Gallery of Modern Art in Roudnice nad Labem
Václav Jíra / Machine Plan, Karolína Rossí / Untitled, from the Masks series
Brno City Museum
Vendula Chalánková / Collages from the House of Art I–IV series, Vladimír Kiva Novotný / From the Gradient series
Jesenicko Regional Museum
Adam Kašpar / Anteater and Břidličná
Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Zlín
Pavel Tichoň / Masaryk
Vysočina Regional Gallery in Jihlava
Lenka Černota / Distance
Aleš South Bohemian Gallery
Jan Vičar / Herons
Critic and independent curator Radek Wohlmuth, member of the NSU board of advisors and chairman of the committee, stated:
“The issue of building collections represents a long-term problem on the Czech art scene, and affects essentially all institutions. For this reason, combined with the chronic underfunding of the cultural sector, it is clear that the NSU Acquisition Program has an undeniable significance and validity by its very nature. This is already evident in its very first year. The results clearly demonstrate that in the future it could become a significant and dynamic component of diversified financing for acquisitions, applying a more lively and independent lens than traditional institutional programs.
It’s not just that this issue is viewed from the perspective of a relatively small but professionally established team that sees the center of gravity of purchasing strategies more rooted in the present and, ideally, in truly current events. But it also possesses a more subtle empathy and unconventional measurement of value that seems to invigorate more traditional support mechanisms. This gives it a quality of its own that is, currently, truly unique within our art scene.”