This exhibition and specialist publication present the transformations of the Olomouc art environment after 1989. The research by the Olomouc Museum of Art, created within the framework of the NAKI III Olomouc in 3D project (in cooperation with Palacký University Olomouc), frames the view of local artistic creation within a narrative formed by the activities of galleries, independent initiatives, and personalities who have shaped the cultural life of the city in the last thirty years. In addition to works, it also identifies and tracks the transformation of relationships, meeting places, and events from which the Olomouc scene grew – from painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography through architecture and design to action art, graffiti, and overlaps with music or festival culture. Olomouc is presented in the context of Czech and Central European art, as an environment open to external impulses and the search for its own identity.
1989 brought about a fundamental change in the conditions of artistic work. The opening of borders, the emergence of new galleries and associations, and the development of independent activities transformed the possibilities of creation, exhibition, and mutual cooperation. The project "Quarks and Cracklings" asks how these changes manifested themselves in Olomouc, which personalities and initiatives managed to create a permanent background, how different generations met or differed, and what role local cultural institutions, the university, independent centers, and specific communities played in this. It also pays attention to short-term projects and personal ties, the significance of which often exceeds the amount of information preserved in archives and memory "banks", including those operating online.
The title, taken from a contemporary reflection by artist Vladimír Havlík, recalls the diversity of this environment and the tension between what we consider essential and what remains on the periphery of our attention. "Quarks and Cracklings" purposefully builds on the long-term research of the Olomouc Museum of Art and on the exhibition and publication projects Announcement of Icarus's Flight, Glasshouse, and Meditation on City, Landscape, Art. This time it turns to the recent past, which is still part of the living experience of its actors.
The project "Quarks and Cracklings". The Olomouc art scene and related zones 1990–2020+ was created as part of the Program for the Support of Applied Research in the Field of National and Cultural Identity for the years 2023 to 2030 (NAKI III) of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic as part of the project "Olomouc in 3D – a new dimension of the city's cultural heritage: past, present, future" (DH23P03OVV018).
I. MEMORY IS NOT AN ARCHIVE
October 22, 2026 – March 21, 2027 | Museum of Modern Art, Gallery exhibition hall
The exhibition maps the transformations of the Olomouc gallery scene in the years 1990–2020 through a representative selection of galleries, exhibition initiatives, and key projects that shaped the cultural life of the city. In addition to authentic artworks and archival materials, it will offer reconstructions of selected exhibition situations and audio testimonies of witnesses – curators, artists, and gallerists. The exhibition will connect documentation with the personal memory of the actors and invite visitors to discover the cultural history of Olomouc as a living network of people, spaces, and ideas.
Exhibition information
- EXHIBITION: Memory is not an archive. "Quarks and Cracklings": The Olomouc Art Scene and Related Zones 1990–2020+
- LOCATION: Museum of Modern Art, Gallery
- DATE: October 22, 2026 – March 21, 2027
- OPENING: October 22, 2026 at 5:30 PM
- AUTHOR: Jakub Frank
- CURATORS: Klára Jeništová, Olga Š. Staníková
- SPACE DESIGN: Vlastimil Sedláček
- GRAPHIC DESIGN: Petr Šmalec
- TRANSLATION AND LANGUAGE EDITING: Zuzana Henešová
- INSTALLATION: Vlastimil Sedláček, Filip Šindelář, Radka Žáková
- EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS: David Hrbek, Denisa Tessenyi
- PROMOTION: Tomáš Kasal, Martin Šinkovský
"Quarks and Cracklings": The Olomouc Art Scene and Related Zones 1990–2020+
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Source: muo.cz/vystavy/kvarky-a-skvarky