Quarks and Cinders: The Olomouc Visual Arts Scene and Related Zones 1990–2020+

I. MEMORY IS NOT AN ARCHIVE

The exhibition Memory Is Not an Archive emerged as part of the research and exhibition project Quarks and Cinders: The Olomouc Visual Arts Scene and Related Zones 1990–2020+. The project, accompanied by a scholarly publication, was supported by the NAKI III Olomouc ve 3D grant programme and is carried out in cooperation with Palacký University Olomouc. It presents the transformations of the Olomouc art scene after 1989, placing emphasis on individuals and works, as well as on the activities of independent initiatives and galleries that have shaped the city's cultural life over the past thirty years.

The exhibition Memory Is Not an Archive opens the research and exhibition project Quarks and Cinders. The Olomouc Visual Arts Scene and Related Zones 1990–2020+, which follows the transformations of the Olomouc art environment after 1989. Part of it is an extensive scholarly publication on the Olomouc visual arts scene, released alongside the exhibition. In spring 2027, the exhibition will be followed by a comprehensive survey of stylistic and creative transformations, presenting a broader picture of the Olomouc visual arts scene from 1990 to the present across several exhibition spaces. Alongside individuals and works, it also traces the transformations of galleries, independent initiatives, meeting places and events that have influenced the city's cultural life over the past thirty years. It is interested in the conditions of artistic work and the presentation of contemporary art, in relationships between generations, and in the connections between cultural institutions, the university and independent centres. The project was supported by the NAKI III Olomouc ve 3D grant programme and is carried out in cooperation with Palacký University in Olomouc. Through this project, the Muzeum umění Olomouc continues its long-term research and its exhibition and publication projects Oznámení o Ikarově letu, Skleník and Meditace o městě, krajině, umění. This time it turns to the recent past, which remains part of the living experience of its participants.

The exhibition Memory Is Not an Archive focuses on the transformations of the Olomouc gallery scene in the years 1990–2020 and presents a selection of institutions, independent initiatives, exhibition spaces and projects that shaped the city's cultural life during this period. It is concerned not only with what was exhibited, but also with the people, places and conditions that made it possible to present contemporary art in Olomouc. The core of the exhibition consists of ten stations introducing selected Olomouc galleries, exhibition spaces and initiatives: Muzeum umění Olomouc, Galerie pod podloubím, Divadlo hudby, Galerie Caesar, Galerie Půda, Galerie 36, Vitrína Deniska, Galerie W7, Galerie XY and Telegraph Gallery. Although these are only a small fraction of the more than one hundred exhibition venues that, to a greater or lesser degree, have entered the city's cultural memory over three decades, the individual stations show the diversity of the environments in which contemporary art was presented in Olomouc. Alongside contributory organisations, there were associations and private galleries, independent initiatives, artist-run spaces, site-specific galleries, as well as commercial and semi-commercial entities.

The exhibition does not stop at data, information and photographic documentation. It also presents original or updated installations that were shown in selected spaces. It thus offers a partial view of the transformations of Czech art from the first post-revolutionary years to the recent past. The selection includes a reconstruction of a happening, original and restored works or their exact copies, documentation of vanished realisations, and updates of works whose meaning has changed over the years.

The exhibition also includes audio recollections by the gallerists and curators behind the selected Olomouc galleries, exhibition spaces and initiatives. Further context for the exhibited works and projects is provided by an audio guide. The accompanying programme will offer a moderated talk show, How We Remember It, guided walks past former exhibition addresses, and meetings with gallerists, curators and exhibiting artists. In the week before Christmas, the museum will also commemorate the happening White Christmas by Vladimír Havlík and attempt to revive its atmosphere.

The exhibition is complemented by two digital storymaps devoted to the Olomouc gallery scene up to 1989 and in the years 1990–2020+…