Sacred Art in the Age of Commerce

The exceptional exhibition Sacred Art in the Age of Commerce / Czech Sacred Art 1990–2026 maps the worship buildings and inventive interiors created for spiritual spaces after 1989. For the first time, experts map more than three decades of architecture, visual art and design created for sacred spaces in a free society. Artworks, architectural adaptations and new buildings in the Czech church environment since 1990 are presented and assessed in a lavish accompanying publication. The current exhibition follows on from the acclaimed project Sacred Art in the Unsacred Age (2022), which focused on Czech sacred art in 1948–1989.

After the fall of the communist regime, churches regained the opportunity to shape their churches anew, restore devastated monuments, and also create community centres. “It was an impulse for the creation of many significant architectural and artistic realisations. Their form was shaped by personalities who were already active under the communist regime, for example architects Tomáš Černoušek, Viktor Dohnal or Jan Soukup, and artists Ludvík Kolek, Karel Rechlík or Karel Stádník. Later they were joined by other prominent creators, among them Marek Jan Štěpán, Josef Pleskot, Zdeněk Fránek, Jan Jemelka and Otmar Oliva,” says curator Šárka Belšíková.

Attention focuses not only on new churches and chapels, but also on the renewal of liturgical spaces in line with the principles of the Second Vatican Council, the creation of new Stations of the Cross and small sacred structures in the landscape. A separate chapter is devoted to the rescue of church monuments returned in restitution. “Many objects were in very poor technical condition and required extensive repairs,” notes co-author of the project Ivo Binder. Citizens’ initiatives also played a significant role in restoring monuments, for example in Neratov, Zlaté Hory and Moravský Beroun.

The exhibition also covers non-Catholic churches. It presents, for example, the solutions for congregation houses of the Evangelical Church of Czech Brethren and the building activities of the Church of the Brethren, which worked with leading Czech architects and artists.

An expert publication accompanies the exhibition. It offers studies in theology, history and art history, biographies of the authors and a rich photographic documentation.

Publication

Audio guide

EXHIBITION INFORMATION

EXHIBITION: Sacred Art in the Age of Commerce / Czech Sacred Art 1990–2026

DATES: 22 10 2026 – 14 03 2027

OPENING: 22 10 2026 at 18:30

VENUE: Muzeum moderního umění, Trojlodí

EXHIBITION AUTHORS: Šárka Belšíková, Ivo Binder

CURATOR: Šárka Belšíková

PUBLIC PROGRAMME: David Hrbek, Hana Lamatová, Denisa Tessenyi

GRAPHIC DESIGN: Kateřina Manková

EXHIBITION ARCHITECT: Pavel Kolíbal

REALISATION: Vlastimil Sedláček, Filip Šindelář, Radka Žáková

TRANSLATION: Zuzana Henešová

PHOTOGRAPHY: Markéta Ondrušková, Zdeněk Sodoma, Tereza Hrubá

CONSERVATORS: Jakub Barna, Veronika Langer Klimszová, Gabriela Polívková, Ondřej Žák

COLLABORATION: Klára Jeništová, Hana Lamatová, Martina Mertová, Gina Renotière, Dušan Sapara, Michal Soukup, Anežka Šimková, Josef Tobolka, Helena Zápalková

PROMOTION: Tomáš Kasal, Martin Šinkovský

LOANS: A8000 s.r.o., Architectura, z.s., Atelier Štěpán s.r.o., Diocese of Hradec Králové, Diecézní muzeum Brno, Fránek Architects s.r.o., Hus Church in Dobruška, Koinonia Jan Křitel – Oáza Plzeň, Moravská galerie v Brně, municipality of Malá Skála, Pelčák a partner architekti, s.r.o., Province of the Franciscan Friars Prague, Roman Catholic parish Jaroměřice, Roman Catholic parish Prádlo, Roman Catholic parish Rychaltice, Roman Catholic parish at the Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary Prague-Strašnice, Roman Catholic parish at the Church of St Francis of Assisi Prague-Chodov, Roman Catholic parish at the Church of St Henry Prague-Nové Město, authors of works and private collections

PATRONAGE: Mons. Josef Nuzík, Archbishop of Olomouc; Pavel Pokorný, Chairman of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in the Czech Republic; Mons. Jan Graubner, Emeritus Archbishop of Prague