annual report 2019

CZ

Creation of new exhibitions

New exhibitions in the Historical and New Building of the National Museum

In 2019, the processing of project documentation took place in all exhibition units, with the consulting participation of all architects, or architectural teams. Teams of graphic artists selected on the basis of a public contract from 2018 also entered into the preparatory process of all exhibition parts. Studio Marvil, s.r.o. participates in the graphics for the exhibitions Nature, Evolution, History and People, MgA. Petr Krejzek for the exhibition Treasury and the Coin Cabinet and MgA. Filip Mond for the exhibition History of the 20th century. Project documentation for the exhibitions Nature, Evolution, People, connecting corridor, History of the 20th century and Children’s Museum was submitted by the end of 2019, documentation for the History exhibition was elaborated and submitted as well - due to the need for modifications required by the National Museum in case of 19th century hall, the final submission will be made in early 2020. In case of Treasury and the Coin Cabinet exhibition, the processing of project documentation was delayed by the completion of the reconstruction of the Historic Building, as the exhibition space was blocked for final work activities due to its advantageous location, by moving the contractor from the HB and using the space as the last workshop space to complete the reconstruction project. Therefore, an alternative procedure was defined, which used the forced time, in the form of production of trial showcases, which will be ready in the first half of 2020, and on the basis of which it will be possible to complete the project documentation faster.

From the beginning of 2019, the department of the main manager of exhibitions worked on the preparation of a large number of public contracts for the realization of partial exhibition units. At the end of December 2018, the preparation of an above-limit public contract for the production of multimedia content for the connecting corridor began. The public contract was announced in May 2019. At the same time, documentation was being prepared for a sub-limit public contract for the realization of the construction part of the exhibition in the connecting corridor, which was announced in June 2019. In August 2019, the last above-limit public contract was announced for the realization of an exhibition in the connecting corridor, namely for the supply and installation of AV equipment and lighting. All three mentioned public contracts were concluded in time and the subject of performance was realized to open the exhibition on 17 November 2019.

  

In July 2019, an above-limit public contract was announced for the implementation of the History of the 20th century exhibition, within which, however, no bid was submitted. The tender was therefore announced again, and at the turn of 2019 and 2020, the fulfilment of all qualification conditions for participation was checked, i.e. only the act of signing the contract itself falls on 2020.

At the same time, in July 2019, an above-limit public contract for the restoration of the blue whale skeleton was launched, and the skeleton remained in the building for the entire duration of the HB reconstruction. As in case of the first contract for the implementation of the History of the 20th century exhibition, no one applied for this tender and the announcement had to be repeated. Probably regarding the autumn and winter implementation time, the second tender was successful. The implementation by Theodorik, s.r.o. has been underway since the end of December 2019.

In the second half of 2019, above-limit public contracts for author’s works for the History of the 20th century exhibition were prepared, announced and signed in December, namely the 5.5 m high “Časozdviž” (Time Hoist) (multimedia object with a 360° projection with corresponding content) and stage design elements of the exhibition.

In October 2019, an above-limit public contract was announced for a framework supplier of lighting for upcoming exhibitions in the New and Historical Building of the NM. The submitted bids were assessed at the turn of 2019 and 2020, in the first half of 2020 there is a presumption of signing a contract with the selected supplier.

In the second half of 2019, the preparation of tender documentation for above-limit public contracts for the implementation of the History exhibition and the implementation of the Children’s Museum took place, followed by the preparation of tender documentation for the above-limit public contract for a framework supplier of AV equipment for all exhibitions.

The elaboration of the orientation and navigation system around the complex of the Historical and New Building of the NM in cooperation with Ing. arch. Josef Smutný from the Ilex Design studio continued. The result is an elaborated documentation for the location of individual parts and information within both buildings.

As part of the preparation for the installation of new exhibitions, the individual collection departments continued with the preparation of selected collection items, adjustments, restoration and new acquisitions of collections that will be part or even dominant of the new exhibitions. The acquisitions themselves took place in 2019 for CZK 46.85 million, the subject of which were exhibits from the field of anthropology, zoology, archaeology, classical archaeology, minerals or historical objects of military, artistic and other nature.

Jan Palach Memorial in Všetaty

On October 9, 2019, the Jan Palach Memorial in Všetaty was ceremoniously opened. Part of the Memorial complex is the original birth house of Jan Palach and the newly created exhibition pavilion. The authors of the architectural solution are Miroslav Cikán and Pavla Melková from the MCA studio. The author of the historical exhibition is the historian Petr Blažek in collaboration with Michal Ježek, Marek Junk and the graphic artist Jáchym Šerých. In the house you can see the death mask of Jan Palach by sculptor Olbram Zoubek and his statue of Zlatý Jan (Golden John). In the pavilion, the visitor can admire authentic objects, watch Olga Sommerová’s documentary about Jan Palach or read several interactive panels that clarify Jan’s life story.