Savarin Palace to open to public for Prague Art Week

Prague Art Week, a four-day event presenting the best of Prague’s galleries and art museums, gets underway in the capital on Friday evening. The festival’s main venue will be located at the historic Savarin Palace in the centre of the city, which will open to the public for the first time since its reconstruction started in 2021.

Lenka Bakešová|Photo: Daniel Grabowski, Radio Prague International

Over 30 art spaces around the city, including the National Gallery Kunsthalle Prague, MeetFactory and Kampa Museum, will be the backdrop to the third edition of the annual Prague Art Week, with new exhibitions and all kinds of accompanying events. Festival director Lenka Bakešová says their main goal is to promote Prague as a cultural city with a vibrant art scene:

“We have many partners, including galleries, museums, art spaces and artist-run spaces which we want to show to the public. During the Prague Art Week, the galleries will offer guided tours, performances, or workshops for kids, so I think people can really enjoy it as a social event and a celebration of contemporary art.”

Photo: Ruth Fraňková, Radio Prague International

Among the biggest highlights of this year’s Prague Art Week is the opening of the Savarin Palace, which serves as the event’s headquarters. The building, designed by the famous German Bohemian architect Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer, is itself a striking example of Baroque architecture, but it will also feature three exhibitions of contemporary art, says Ms. Bakešová:

“You can see an installation of lighting objects by street artist Michal Škapa, AKA Tron. The second exhibition is Masters of Czech Glass, Martin Janecký and Rony Plesl. And in the main hall on the first floor there is a contemporary art exhibition, we call it Young Selection, and it showcases the work of ten very young artists because we want the public to see their potential.”

Photo: Ruth Fraňková, Radio Prague International

Savarin Palace is located on Na Příkopech Street, the main artery of Prague’s shopping district. The 1.5-hecatre site, which has been largely inaccessible to the public, consists of six separate buildings, including a Baroque palace. Ondřej Micka is a spokesman for Crestyl, one of the country’s leading developers, which has been renovating the site for the past three years:

“The reconstruction of the historical palace is the first phase of a future project called Savarin. The reconstruction started at the end of 2021 and lasted until the end of the summer. Now it’s almost finished and the palace is ready to open to the public. We will now continue with the second phase of the project, which is designed by Heatherwick Studios, a famous architecture and design studio.”

Photo: Ruth Fraňková, Radio Prague International

After the renovation, the space will feature an inner courtyard with numerous walkways and terraces open to the public as well as a restored Baroque garden. It will also serve as a passageway, connecting Na Příkopech Street with the adjacent Panská and Jindřišská streets. The Savarin Palace will also accommodate a new Time Out Market, only the second in Europe after Lisbon.