Archive 1911 - 2011

The online exhibitions database is the result of a several-year project launched in 2019; its objective has been to comprehensively process the House of Arts exhibitions archive preserved in material form since 1945. Previous documentation from the period 1911–1945 was probably destroyed after the end of World War II, and it is mostly presented by the exhibition titles and dates, sometimes also with information on the exhibition catalogue. Processed and registered over the past years, the content of the 1945–2011 written catalogue has currently been digitised. It contains various amounts of documentation including printed matter (invitations, catalogues, posters), partly photographic documentation of exhibitions and openings, photographs of exhibited works, correspondence, lists of exhibited works, theoretical texts, press releases, notes, etc.

The online database publishes only one part of the exhibition documentation; some internal documents, correspondence and photographs subject to copyright are available for research purposes on request.

The Exhibitions Archive 1911–2011 is an accessible digital platform for preservation, research and education in the field of art from the 20^th century to the present day, covering a century of the House of Arts exhibition history. It provides information on individual historical exhibitions, as well as on the cultural and art-historical context of the exhibition institution, which has hosted over two thousand exhibitions until 2020. The House of Arts has continuously maintained a high quality of its exhibition programme for 110 years, despite the historical social-political changes that restrictively affected the institution’s programme. The entire exhibitions archive and the individual exhibitions files are a unique collection of documents that are the subject of research in local history, art history, the work of both important and presently lesser-known personalities (artists and theoreticians within the domestic and international cultural scenes), and many other social-cultural and historical topics.

NOTE

The processing of the exhibitions archive is based on surviving archival documents and available private and institutional sources. In order to supplement the archive, any missing documentation, printed materials, photographs of exhibitions are welcome. We will appreciate receiving any additional or clarifying information.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND COOPERATION

Our thanks are extended to Aleš Záboj, Nina Dvořáková, J.H.Kocman, Polana Bregantová, Tomáš Ruller, Marie Kratochvílová and Martin Zhoř for supplementing archival material and information.

In the period 2019–2023, students and graduates of the Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, and a graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology, have been involved in the processing of archival material, recording, scanning and digitization.

The cooperation of Gajane Achverdyanova, Lidia Andriichuk, Tatiana Drgonec Dižová, Lukáš Dobeš (processing of obsolete media), Ada Hlaváčová, Petra Horáková, Barbora Macháčková, Klára Ondrová, Martina Radošínská, Karolína Smýkalová, Veronika Svobodová, Katarina Šimová, Helena Todorova and Ema Truchanová is gratefully acknowledged.

The processing of the Exhibitions Archive 1911–2011 has been possible thanks to the financial support of the City of Brno. In 2024, the project was supported by a grant for the development of digitisation from the National Restoration Plan of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.

LICENCE AND COPYRIGHT

The copyrights of archival material belong for the most part to House of Arts Brno, or to private persons and institutions. Reproduction or publication of any archival material is subject to authorisation by House of Arts Brno or other parties and to the stating of due copyright information.

If you wish to reproduce or publish House of Arts Brno archival material (including photographs, lists of exhibited works, press releases, invitations, posters, etc.), do not hesitate to contact us.