Purchla, Vasarely, Król, Lodder, Forgacs and other supporting Olomouc Museum of Art

UPDATE | MAY 13, 2019 | You can send your support for Olomouc Museum of Art to: horak@muo.cz 

Prague Gallery DOX published a petition supporting the National Gallery Prague and the Olomouc Museum of Art where the signatories require Minister of Culture to resign www.nekulturniministr.cz

Personatlities from the cultural field, politicians and academicians from Czech Republic and from abroad support Olomouc Museum of Art and require continuity for its project Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO). We became letter from Pierre Vasarely, Jacek Purchla, Pál Lövei, Agata Wąsowska-Pawlik, Dóra Maurer, Grzegorz Król and many others. 

Pierre Vasarely, Président de la Fondation Vasarely Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, Docteur Honoris Causa de Pécs: "Statement for the support of the Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO) as a unique professionnal project, with its current team. The Museum, and its present employees, has gain the support from many others Visegrad institutions through the Culture Heritage label, as well as western museums and foundations. For many years, it has been recognized has a major institutition through its exhibitions, its research program and its vision through the CEAD (Central European Database). For eleven years, the Vasarely Foundation has been in contact with its administration. We have worked in a very close collaboration. I do think that the Museum of Art of Olomouc must go on with its architectural program in order to develop its activities."

Jacek Purchla, President of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO, Director of the International Cultural Centre 1991-2018:"Dear Director Soukup, I was so sad to learn the Minister of Culture’s decision to call you off. Flourishing cooperation between the Olomouc Museum of Art and the International Cultural Centre in Krakow dates back to the year 2001, when we organised the first joint exhibition. For eighteen years Professor Pavel Zatloukal and then you have developed the unique network of intense contacts between the Olomouc Museum of Art and numerous Polish and Central European institutions. The International Cultural Centre in Kraków has been proud to be part of it. The highest recognition deserves your plan to build Central European Forum Olomouc SEFO and collect art from our region. The last and best example of extraordinary work you have been doing is current exhibition in the ICC Gallery the Years of Disarray. Art of the Avant-Garde in Central Europe 1908–1928. Thanks to your initiative and leadership the outstanding Central European art created between 1908–1928 has been gathered for the first time and shown in the four Visegrad countries. Never before, and probably not soon again. The list of your successes is much longer. Let me refer only to the last year, when the Olomouc Museum of Art organised the greatest show of Polish abstract art ever. The above examples show without doubts that there is no other Czech institution deeper devoted to the better neighbour’s understanding through art and culture. Your confirmed involvement and strategic visions in this mission deserves the highest appreciation. I would like you to know that you are always warmly welcome in Krakow."

Beata Gawrońska-Oramus, art historian, author of the Abstraction.PL exhibition: Szanowny Panie Dyrektorze, Z ogromnym zaskoczeniem i przykrością przeczytałam wiadomość o pańskim odwołaniu ze stanowiska Dyrektora MUO. Mając przyjemność współpracy z Panem i pańskim znakomitym zespołem, przy okazji realizacji wystaw Alfreda Lenicy, Abstrakce.PL oraz przygotowywanej wystawy Jana Pamuły mogłam zawsze podziwiać profesjonalizm, doświadczenie, doskonałe kompetencje oraz zaangażowanie w pracę całego kierowanego przez Pana zespołu pracowników MUO.Wyrazem podziwu dla dokonań wystawienniczych MUO jest również aktualna propozycja zaprezentowania wystawy Abstrakce.PL w Mark Rothko Art Center w Dyneburgu na Łotwie."

Irina Subotić, prof.emeritus, Art historian, Belgrade - Serbia: "Olomouc Museum of Art, headed by its director Mr. Soukup, is an extremely important and serious cultural institution not only because of its rich collections, but also because of its vivid international collaboration, recently proved by the most successful  and substantial exhibition YEARS O DISSARAY 1908-1928 . With great sorrow I have just heard that instead of being awarded as successful director, admired by many colleagues all over your country but also across Europe, Mr. Soukup is persecuted, contrary to essential principles of democracy and freedom. The similar situation is with the whole Central European Forum Olomouc (SEFO) and moreover with Mr. Jiri Fajt, the director of the National Gallery  It is unbelievable that in your country, which has suffered so much during communist/socialist times, your intellectuals, professionals and capable individuals and leaders are again under the suspicion, unreasonable control and political attacks.  This does not give a nice image of the Czech democracy and its European values. My colleagues and I personally regret very much this situation and ask for justice and free expression as basic elements of democracy everywhere – currently in Czech Republic."

Eva Forgacs, Art Historian, Member of of the Advisory Board of EAM (European Network of Modernist Studies), Adjunct Professor, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California: "Hereby I announce that, based on personal experience and visit, I am convinced that the Olomouc Museum of Art is an excellent institution that has a relevant, important collection of artworks and does highly valuable curatorial work. I fully support the Museums curators and administrators and wish that they can continue their important cultural work without any setback."

The Board of Galleries of Czech Republic supported the director Michal Soukup as well, signed by following directors: Jan Randáček (Oblastní galerie Liberec), Lenka Škvorová (Muzeum umění a designu Benešov), Pavel Ciprian (Muzeum města Brna), Aleš Seifert (Alšova jihočeská galerie), Marcel Fišer (Galerie výtvarného umění v Chebu), Daniel Novák (Oblastní galerie Vysočiny v Jihlavě), Jan Samec (Galerie umění Karlovy Vary), Hana Kristová (Galerie Klatovy / Klenová), Jan Štíbr (Severočeská galerie výtvarného umění v Litoměřicích), Jan Kapusta (Galerie výtvarného umění v Náchodě), Josef Chalupa (Horácká galerie v Novém Městě na Moravě), Jiří Jůza (Galerie výtvarného umění v Ostravě), Hana Řeháková (Východočeská galerie Pardubice), Roman Musil (Západočeská galerie v Plzni), Aleš Rezler (Galerie Felixe Jeneweina města Kutné Hory), Magdalena Juříková (Galerie hlavního města Prahy), Miroslav Divina (Galerie moderního umění v Roudnici nad Labem), Ivo Frolec (Slovácké muzeum v Uherském Hradišti), Václav Mílek (Krajská galerie výtvarného umění ve Zlíně), Jan Smetana (Museum Kampa – Nadace Jana a Medy Mládkových), František Zachoval (Galerie moderního umění v Hradci Králové), Václav Zoubek (Rabasova galerie Rakovník), Josef Fantura (Galerie výtvarného umění v Hodoníně), Martina Lehmannová (Památník Lidice), Hana Nováková (Galerie výtvarného umění v Havlíčkově Brodě), Dana Schlaichertová (Městská Galerie Litomyšl)

Support recieved also from other institutions and individuals: Spolek skutek (členové a členky výboru: Alena Kunicová, Marek Meduna, Tomáš Hrůza, Josefína Klimentová, Lucie Kultová, Johana Lomová, Jiří Ptáček, Piotr Sikora, Šárka Zahálková), Markéta Odehnalová (historička umění), Eva Nováková (předsedkyně Klubu UNESCO Kroměříž), Anežka a Miroslav Kovalovi (Galerie Jiřího Jílka v Šumperku), Jiří a Kateřina Žlebkovi (sochař a malířka, kreslířka), Martin Velíšek (akademický malíř), Pavel Konečný (bývalý ředitel Divadla hudby), Jiří Lindovský (grafik, kreslíř a malíř), soubor pražského Divadla Letí, Lubomír Smékal (psycholog a scénárista filmů Díra u Hanušovic a Kvarteto), Ondřej Michálek (grafik, kreslíř, grafický designer, výtvarný pedagog), BuranTeatr (brněnské divadlo), Ondřej Dadejík (Společnost pro estetiku), Jan Jemelka (akademický malíř), Alena Jemelková (vedoucí Památkové péče Arcidiecéze olomoucké), Jiří Hrabal (literární teoretik a estetik, Katedra bohemistiky FF UPOL), Anna Ošancová, Jan Zemánek, Jana Budíková, Ivana Klimešová. 

The list of supporters is updated continously.

Many thanks to all our supporters.