September 13th – October 24th, 2025
Opening: September 12th, 2025
Bouda Gallery, Czech Centre London, 132 Palace Garden Terrace, London, United Kingdom
Outdoor exhibition, fence of the Czech Embassy, 26–30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, United Kingdom
The Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) will once again be part of the London Design Festival. In collaboration with the Czech Centre London, it will present a selection from the successful exhibition Design and Transformation: Stories of Czech Design 1990–2020. The exhibition will feature unique animated documentaries focusing on traditional Czech brands, a Czech design archive, and a series of photographs of Czech design icons.
Two interconnected exhibitions will be on view throughout September in London’s Notting Hill as part of the official program of the popular British festival, which attracts over half a million visitors each year. The exhibitions will outline the development of design in the Czech Republic within the context of societal changes over the past thirty years and present Czech design as a highly creative and innovative field drawing on the cultural richness of the country.
“Czech design is not defined by individual products, but by the work of designers and manufacturers rooted in the rich cultural and craft heritage of this Central European country. After 1989, when Czechoslovakia and later the Czech Republic underwent a transformation from a socialist state to a democratic part of European societal structures, inventiveness and the ability to adapt to changing institutional and economic conditions became an important part of the living process of transforming Czech design,” says the exhibition’s curator, Tereza Vernerová Volná, about the concept of the exhibition.
The exhibition Design and Transformation: Stories of Czech Design 1990–2020 can be conceptually divided into three interconnected sections. The Czech Design Archive, an extensive database compiled by architectural historian Adam Štěch in collaboration with graphic designers Matěj Činčera and Jan Kloss, provides a detailed overview of the recent historical context. Visitors will be able to explore 200 cards that present the most significant aspects of Czech design since 1989, both visually and with accompanying text.
A series of six short animated documentaries focuses on iconic Czech companies and the development of their products. Led by Michaela Režová, the films were created by a team of young creators from UMPRUM and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The production crews had the opportunity to gain direct insight into companies such as Bomma and Lasvit, Prusa Research, TON, and the Textile Mountain project. In the case of Škoda Auto, the focus was more on brand development. For the animations, they chose materials characteristic of each company’s production, such as glass, wood, or textiles. The films primarily serve as impressions, outlining the story, vision, or history of each brand.
Photographer Vojtěch Veškrna worked in a similar way, and his photographs will be displayed on the exhibition wall at the Czech Embassy in London. He focused on twelve Czech companies, whose diversity reflects the breadth and complexity of Czech design. His lens captures the rhythm of everyday production, the tangible beauty of traditional techniques, and the innovations driving advanced industries—from porcelain and textile printing to cutting-edge medical technologies and computer game development. Veškrna’s photographs reveal design as a living process undergoing constant transformation.
"The Czech Center London is honored to once again present Czech design at the prestigious London Design Festival. Thanks to the Design and Transformation exhibition, an international audience will be introduced not only to the inspiring journey of domestic creativity over the last thirty years, but also to the creative innovation and global competitiveness of Czech designers," adds Přemysl Pela, director of the Czech Centre London.
The exhibition Design and Transformation can be seen as an artistic reflection on the history and current state of Czech design. Its unconventional concept presents a selection of elements typical for the Czech context, whether brands, materials, or techniques—including the phenomenon of animation. Czech design is neither a static concept nor a retrospective label. It is a dynamic field of activity where history meets the future, tradition meets experimentation, and the local meets the global.
Curator: Tereza Vernerová Volná
Graphic design: Tereza Saitz
Animated documentaries: A collective of creators from UMPRUM and AMU, led by Michaela Režová
Czech Design Archive: Adam Štěch, Matěj Činčera, and Jan Kloss
Photography: Vojtěch Veškrna
Installation: Mikuláš Procházka
Production: Michaela Kaplánková
Link to Press kit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Mf7u2Yw6wC1u_7i16Y-dnbBE5h8jBQPs?usp=sharing
Event organizers:
UMPRUM, Czech Centre London, and the London Design Festival
The exhibition was created with the kind support of the Moravian Gallery in Brno.
Partners:
Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Academy of Performing Arts, and the Moravian Gallery in Brno.
