16 September – 4 October 2026
Brussels Design Week, Prague House, Av. Palmerston 16, Brussels, Belgium
Open: Mon–Fri, 9 am–5 pm
Accompanying Program
19–20 September 2026 (Heritage Days Brussels, open 10 am–5 pm, free admission)
3–4 October 2026 guided tours as part of the Ante Festival (a time slot must be booked in advance).
Where does a functional object end and a sculpture begin? What does collaboration between a designer and a sculptor look like? The exhibition Keep in Touch, presented by the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) together with the Prague House in Brussels, from 16 September to 6 October 2026, brings together a selection of semester projects united by the theme of touch, a dialogue between two disciplines, and the craft of metal casting. The exhibition is part of Brussels Design Week.
“Returning to craftsmanship,” says Michal Froněk, summarising one of the studio’s starting points. He leads the studio together with Jan Němeček and Michal Malášek. Design today is created predominantly on a screen, and students are encountering actual production and workshop practice less and less. Each design therefore went through the entire production process. The students created full-scale models, made moulds, cast the pieces, and then ground and shaped the finished works by hand. The casting was carried out by Slévárna Nosek, a traditional Czech company specialising in metalworking. It is precisely this process—the behind-the-scenes work of production—that visitors will have the opportunity to see as part of the exhibition.
The designers drew inspiration from the work of Josip Plečnik, whose Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord they visited during the preparations. Plečnik regularly collaborated with sculptors, most notably Lojze Dolinar and Božo Pengov, and in the Czech lands with Damian Pešan. The UMPRUM students sought to build on this model of collaboration. Each student chose an artist or sculptor to work with, developing the final form together. The resulting collaborations produced three types of exhibits: a door handle, an ornamental relief derived from its formal language, and a module displaying a work borrowed from the collaborating artist.
Jáchym Kubů built on Jura Piršč’s sculpture series Výměna stráží (Changing of the Guard), transforming it into a functional object. When the Vartýř handle is pressed, the guard moves his halberd aside, symbolically allowing entry. “We wanted to show just how broad the interface between fine art and the practical world can be,” explains Jáchym Kubů. Designer Kristína Gallová and sculptor Tereza Štětinová incorporated figures of guards into the relief, drawing on the tradition of historic door knockers—the first point of contact between a person and a house. Andrej Čikovský designed a structure for Marie Boková’s ceramic reliefs, whose base, made from fruit-tree trunks, serves as a counterweight and references the motif of Sudeten orchards in the artist’s work.
Another part of the exhibition features Nikola Samcová’s bachelor’s thesis. The Relics collection was created for a residential apartment whose renovation was designed by Lenka Míková’s studio, and includes door handles, pulls, grab handles, and hanging elements. The designer conceives of them as interior jewellery, based on the belief that the character of an interior is revealed in the small details that people touch every day.
The exhibition reveals not only the final objects, but also the creative process behind them. Alongside the door handles themselves, it presents the sculptures that served as the basis for the designs, as well as original hardware by Josip Plečnik, including the iconic door handle from Prague Castle. It also features examples of production from Slévárna Nosek, including components made for Bořek Šípek’s chandeliers.
Keep in Touch is an invitation to take design literally into your hands, experience it through its details, and follow the journey of its creation.
Educational Leadership: Michal Froněk, Jan Němeček, and Michal Malášek
Exhibiting designers and collaborating artists:
Matouš Abraham × David Tureček
Matyáš Bálek × Mikuláš Juráček
Laura Beretová × Johana Hnízdilová
Andrej Čikovský × Marie Boková
Vincent Didunyk × Adam Kovalčík
Kristína Gallová × Tereza Štětinová
Miroslav Chytil × Bianka Barniaková
Jáchym Kubů × Jura Piršč
Synne Maldum × Zeynep Gönen
Gréta Matušková × Laura Pospíšilová
Anežka Petrláková × Magdaléna Roztočilová
Anna Rohde × Veronika Patočková
Maira Liliam Susman × Laurenz Gensthaler
Nikola Samcová, bakalářská práce Relikty.
Door Handle Castings: Slévárna Nosek (https://www.slevarnanosek.cz)
Graphic Design: Kateřina Pravdová
Photography: Eda Babák
Production: Michaela Kaplánková
