Gallery head wins reprieve

When news leaked of the possible firing of Galerie Rudolfinum Director Petr Nedoma, the arts community issued a call to battle on what is now the go-to medium for coordinating protest: the Internet.

Management of the state-financed gallery falls under the authority of the Czech Philharmonic, whose new director, Vladimír Darjanin, started July 1. In the weeks before Darjanin took his post, Nedoma was told he was out of a job. Now, pressure from the arts community has won Nedoma a temporary reprieve, and he will stay until the end of 2009.

A petition calling for Darjanin to reconsider his decision gathered about 3,000 signatures before presentation at a June 24 press conference, as signatures online continued to accumulate.

Open letters to Culture Minister Václav Riedlbauch by Art Historical Society members and the Association of Art Critics and Theoreticians also appear online, as do others by artists including Academy of Fine Arts professor Vladimír Kokolia.

As the orchestra organized the press conference, only those with media credentials were allowed in, but the room swelled with about 100 artists, ostensibly entering the building to see exhibitions - including Petr Nikl, František Skála, Krištof Kintera, Jiří David, Ivan Pinkava and Viktor Pivovarov.

Darjanin, critical of the gallery's marketing, deflected most questions and would not discuss plans beyond saying Nedoma would remain through the end of the year. "Life is a compromise, and I now have made a big one," Darjanin said.

He gave no explanation for his original decision and would not confirm rumors he plans to replace Nedoma with Sylva Petrová, an art historian and expert in Czech glass.

According to art professionals, the gallery's top-notch programs can be entirely credited to the vision of Nedoma. Shows by international stars like Andy Warhol, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Bruce Nauman, Damien Hirst and Louise Bourgeois alternate with solo shows by major Czech contemporary artists, accented with shows by Czech modernists.

Galerie Rudolfinum stages temporary exhibitions but is without a permanent collection. Nedoma has prepared exhibitions through 2012, highlighted by shows of Georg Baselitz, Bill Viola and Matthew Barney. If he leaves the gallery, it is unlikely all will take place.

"I don't expect to be here next year," Nedoma told The Prague Post.

In 1994, when Nedoma became head of the gallery, he reported directly to the culture minister. A later reorganization placed Rudolfinum under the authority of the Czech Philharmonic, with which it shares its grand Neo-Renaissance riverside residence.

Darjanin was chosen to head the Philharmonic by ministry committee. Václav Riedlbauch headed the Czech Philharmonic from January 2001 before becoming culture minister this past May, and had been Nedoma's boss for more than eight years.

Darjanin has worked in film, television, opera and advertising. In 2008, he founded the music festival Dvořák's Prague, and he was commissioner general for Czech participation in the 2005 World Expo in Japan. Petrová curated a Czech art glass exhibition for that project.

One scenario, suggested by the Association of Art Critics and Theoreticians letter, is for the minister to again make the gallery independent of the Philharmonic.

"It is a matter for further discussion and consideration," said ministry spokesman Jan Ciesler.

Mimi Fronczak Rogers can be reached at
Features@praguepost.com