Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Art - programme area no. 16

National Gallery in Prague

www.ngprague.cz

Norsk institutt for kulturminneforskning

Stiftelsen herStay fundational

Czech Technical University in Prague

The grounds of the Convent of St. Agnes in Prague (CA) – Czech Assisi - is one of the Gothic jewels of the Czech Republic. The first convent of the Poor Clares in the countries behind the Alps, the royal foundation and the place of coronations and funerals of Czech kings is inseparably connected with the Přemyslid princess St. Agnes of Bohemia. The life story of CA was troubled, and gradual renovation of CA has been taking place for more than a century. CA housing the collections of the National Gallery (NG) has been open to public since 1980. The general renovation was followed by minor repairs and maintenance. The renovation of CA in 1980's was aimed at making access to all exteriors of CA; however, those plans have not been implemented so far so the vast exteriors of CA with a unique cultural, educative and relaxation potential remain unutilized. Adequate presentation of the history of CA, which would inform domestic and foreign visitors about its importance in a broader context (through guides, audio guides and expositions), is also considerably missing. The condition of the cloister of Minorites is alarming; its gradual degradation resulted from a set of unsuitable actions started with invasive work during renovation in 1980's. The objective of the planned project is to end degradation of historical parts of CA through renovation work and to present the building as a significant national cultural monument. The restored archaeological site will be used for expositions and included in a sightseeing route. The programme of renovation of significant movable cultural monuments includes items from the collection of stone monuments of CA and selected sculptures originated from the 19th century (registered in the Central Register of Collections (CES)), which will be restored and afterwards exhibited in new exterior and interior expositions (collection of stone monuments I and II, outdoor gallery of sculptures). Revitalization of exteriors of CA, its forelands and new expositions addressing the history of the convent, St. Agnes of Bohemia, history of archaeological researches on the premises and everyday life in the medieval convent will allow a comprehensive presentation of CA for the first time. The sightseeing route on the ground floor of the convent of St. Agnes will be newly designed on the basis of principles of modern museum management; multimedia applications will use the outcomes of our partnership with the Czech Technical University. The accompanying press and multimedia outputs of the project will popularize the newly created expositions, and their professional quality ensured by a broad team of cooperating specialists will be beneficial.

approximately 1 115 887 EUR