Free National Gallery. Description of a Struggle.
After the 2023 elections, the new Slovak government appointed a nominee from the Slovak National Party to head the Ministry of Culture and the controlled destruction of cultural institutions began. The new cultural policy was not ideological but personnel-based and aimed against professionalism. What followed was beyond what we could have imagined. Prague City Gallery (GHMP) will present this event at the GHMP House of Photography with an unprecedented project on the borderline between an activist and documentary exhibition entitled Slobodná národná galéria. Popis jedného zápasu (Free National Gallery. Description of a Struggle) that will take place from 3 February – 29 March 2026.
Bans, cancellations of exhibitions and projects, unfavourable contracts and, above all, total amateurism. The gallery staff stood up in creative, civic and professional resistance, which culminated in their mass resignation. More than a hundred employees voluntarily left the jobs they loved because they could not do their work properly under the appointed directors – four of whom came and went during one year.
From the summer of 2024 until the mass departure in April 2025, we experienced a most remarkable period, when various forms of creative resistance and opposition were devised in the struggle against amateurism. It is precisely the reflection of these events and their ever-growing repercussions that is the theme and content of the contextual museological exhibition at Prague City Gallery. The installation will be divided into two parts: on one floor, we will reflect on key events through documents, videos, commentaries and photographs; on the second floor, we will present creative forms of resistance.
"We watched the situation at SNG with tension and then with indignation when, shortly after the renovated building opened, the brain trust of this institution was liquidated. On the contrary, we are enthusiastically observing initiatives that respond to this situation with creativity and humour, and we wanted to bring this atmosphere to our gallery in order to support this group of artists and theorists facing the manipulative actions of the people appointed to management positions by the ruling parties and to demonstrate that both artistic communities still listen to one another and share a sense of belonging," notes Magdalena Juříková, director of GHMP.
The events at the Slovak National Gallery (SNG) sparked a wave of solidarity and became part of the protests of the Open Culture and Art Will Not Be Silent initiatives. The exhibition will also include works of art that were part of this project, small pop-up box exhibitions by artists such as Roman Ondák, Ilona Németh, Jiří Franta and David Böhm, Matúš Maťátko and others.
"The events surrounding the destruction of culture were a truly wild experience, but they also had their bright sides. We discovered what is important, what it means to be courageous and what our limits are. We also understand how solidarity can help in such moments, which is why the offer from our colleagues at GHMP to organise an exhibition is not only a powerful gesture of collegiality, but also an exhibition piece in itself," says Alexandra Kusá, a member of the exhibition's curatorial team.
The project is neither an activist nor a documentary exhibition, although it uses both approaches. A new genre is emerging – a living artistic environment as a "description of a struggle", which will also contribute to the context of the political history of art and the expansion of the field of art history, or rather, that of the art exhibition sector. The exhibition reflects the principles to which Prague City Gallery has long been committed.
Through artistic projects and visual interventions, the gallery wishes to enable the articulation of clear positions on current social and political issues, encourage critical thinking among visitors and show that art can be a means of reflection, dialogue and active engagement in public affairs.
Miro Gajdoš and Braňo Matis, DON'T TAKE OUR CULTURE AWAY, 2024
Yellow Night, Protest happening, 2025 © Andrea Kalinová
Start Moving Out!, 2024, © The Free National Gallery
SNG - SOS, Many employees chose to leave their jobs, 2025 © The Free National Gallery
SNG - SOS, Many employees chose to leave their jobs, 2025 © The Free National Gallery
SNG - SOS, Many employees chose to leave their jobs, 2025 © The Free National Gallery
Art Will Not Be Silent! & The Free National Gallery, The Free National Tree, 2025, © Zuzana Dzurdzíková
Art Will Not Be Silent! & The Free National Gallery, The Free National Gallery, 2025 © Leontína Berková
Freedom Lasts. Censorship, Propaganda, and Art. 2024 // Rudolf Uher, The Couple (Earth II) , 1947. © Zuzana Dzurdzíková
Notes On the SNG Fence, 2024 © Lenka Márföldy
Dangerous Security!, 2024, © Lenka Márföldy
Cultural Strike Next to the Motherland, Permanent exhibition: The Modern, 2024. © Lenka Márföldy
Jozef Sušienka, Variable Composition, 1986. // Matúš Maťátko, Professional Approach, 2025. © Leontína Berková
Photos of artworks in print quality are available here
© Jan Kolský
© Jan Kolský
© Jan Kolský
© Jan Kolský
© Jan Kolský
© Jan Kolský
Photos of the exhibition in print quality are available here
Dates: 3 February – 29 March 2026
Curatorial Team: Alexandra Kusá, Branislav Matis, Nina Vidovencová
Curatorial collaboration for GHMP: Helena Musilová
Graphic and architectural design: Branislav Matis
The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the civic association Kultúrne koncepty.
GHMP Dům fotografie, Revoluční 1006/5, 110 00 Prague 1 – Old Town
Open: Tue–Wed 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thu 10 a.m.– 8 p.m., Fri–Sun 10 a.m.– 6 p.m.
Entrance fee: CZK 150 full (adults) / CZK 60 discounted (students and seniors)
For up-to-date information on accompanying programmes, guided tours and educational activities, please visit our web.
Tickets can be purchased through the GoOut network or at the GHMP box offices.
Media partners: ArtAntiques, ArtMap, FlashArt, Fotograf, Artikl, Artalk, Aerokina, Radio 1