Mikulov’s summer art symposiums sampled at Malostranská beseda

Each summer, the south Moravian town of Mikulov hosts Czech and international artists who come for an annual art symposium. Since the event was first held in 1994, they have created more than 260 artefacts, some of which are exhibited at the Mikulov chateau. But now, selected works from the Mikulov collection of contemporary art have also gone on display at the Malostranská beseda gallery in Prague.

Tomáš Medek - 'Anuloid', photo: Martin Polák

Mikulov Roma jazz band Rosen Trio opened the exhibition in the attic of the beautifully restored Malostranská beseda on Tuesday evening. The opening drew several dozen of people who came to see a selection of artworks created during the 18 years the Mikulov Art Symposiums have been held.

Among the authors are some of the big names of the contemporary Czech art scene, such as Eva Koťátková, Tomáš Císařovský, Jiří David, Eva Eisler, Petr Nikl and others. The Malostranská beseda gallery’s curator is Darina Kubišová.

“I’ve been going to the Mikulov Art Symposium since the mid 1990s and I’m always enchanted by the atmosphere as much as by the artworks that are created there. I felt sorry that people did not have the chance to see them in Prague because I think they deserve it.”

Petr Nikl - 'My friends', photo: Ota Pajer

The exhibition presents 23 paintings, statues and installations. The complete Mikulov collection, however, contains more than 260 pieces created since the symposium first kicked off in 1994. The town of Mikulov, which sponsors the event, gets to keep the artworks and puts some of them on display at the Mikulov museum. One of the organizers is painter Libor Lípa, who explains what makes the Mikulov art collection different.

“I would say it’s more spontaneous. Some people might say there is not much concept in what we do. But we let our guests work freely; we set no themes or topics for them. We want them to work as they would in their environment. When someone collects art, they pick very carefully what they buy. This collection is much more spontaneous.”

One of the many artists who have taken part in the symposium and whose work is on display at Malostranská beseda is designer Eva Eisler. She first came to Mikulov in 2005 and returned the following year – so how did the Baroque town affect her work?

Eva Eisler - 'Ovínění', photo: Martin Polák

“You never know how the new environment you didn’t know is going to affect your work. Here it was a combination of fun, good wine and work – we worked responsibly every day for endless hours. But you have let go and liberate your mind. You’re not coming with pre-conceived ideas of what you’re going to do. The space somehow has an effect on the result of your work. And I just let go and enjoyed it.”

If you want to see for yourself whether the organizers succeeded in transferring some of Mikulov’s magic to Prague, the exhibition at Malostranská beseda runs until the end of September. The symposium in Mikulov this year begins on July 16. More details can be found at www.artmikulov.cz.