4. 6.– 19. 7. 2025
Opening: 10. 6. 2025
UM Gallery, main UMPRUM building, Jan Palach Square 80, Prague 1
The exhibition Individual, Collective captures a fragment of the history of the Textile Arts Studio at the UMPRUM; a monumental tapestry collectively woven by the students of the school - a generation of artists who influenced the shape of Czechoslovak textile art in the latter half of the 20th century. Presented in the studio's original space - now the UM Gallery - the display evokes the creative atmosphere atmosphere of the time and offers a glimpse into the studio's practice, which bridged traditional techniques with experiments.
The exhibition Individual, Collective. Topography of Textile Arts Studio was prompted by the discovery of archival fragments charting the studio’s history from the 1940s to the 1960s, now preserved at the UMPRUM. These documents offer rare insights into the development of local textile art and system of applied-arts education. A substantial part of the archive consists of photographic albums that meticulously chronicle the studio’s activities from the moment Antonín Kybal began teaching at the academy in 1945. Under his guidance, students tackled an array of briefs spanning the full spectrum of textile practice, including the weaving of both small-scale and large-scale tapestries – true to Kybal’s motto: “Tapestry is not designed, tapestry is woven.”
Among the works that push beyond the remit of standard academic assignments is the monumental tapestry Natural Wealth of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, created between 1966 and 1967. Its history has been pieced together from documentary photographs found in the studio’s albums, which illuminate the circumstances and collaborative process of its production. Unlike the individually authored projects typical of day-to-day studio work, the tapestry is emblematic of a collective mode of artistic production encouraged for large-scale commissions intended for representational purposes. According to the recollections of former students, the tapestry – depicting native animals and vegetation - was intended for the Office of the President of the Republic at Prague Castle. Conceptually, it builds upon an earlier monumental collective tapestry, Czechoslovak Castles and Chateaux, Urban and Nature Reserves (1957–1958), woven for the national pavilion at the EXPO 58 World Exhibition in Brussels. Whereas the earlier tapestry presented vivid silhouettes of historic architecture, the later tapestry substitutes these with illustrations of fauna and flora rendered in a muted colour palette.
What makes this tapestry particularly unique is its rigorously conceived material concept. The artists wove exclusively with the natural shades of sheep’s wool – from the deepest black, through greys and browns, to raw and brilliant white. The wool itself was most likely sourced from Czechoslovak farms. This deliberate embrace of local, sustainable materials, coupled with the collective nature of its creation, resonates powerfully with contemporary debates on environmental responsibility and the search for ecologically sustainable lifestyles, community-based practices, and a renewed interest in traditional crafts. In this context, the nature-inspired motif acquires meanings far more nuanced than a straightforward gesture of state representation.
Beyond documenting the intricacies of the weaving process, the photographs also convey the atmosphere of the Textile Arts Studio of the period, then located in what is now the UM Gallery. Exhibiting the tapestry in situ, accompanied by an architectural evocation of the original studio interior, serves as a symbolic reminder of the history and significance of this educational institution.
The exhibition will be open at the UM Gallery until 19 July 2025.
Admission to the exhibition is free.
Curators: Veronika Soukupová, Markéta Vinglerová
