Prague’s permanent public art after 1989

Petra Vlachynská

SUMMARY

In this paper I focus on permanent public art in Prague installed between the years 1989 and 2015. With political changes all controlled mechanisms and institutional management in production of art in cities have been abolished. Until now there is no strategy and policy supporting public art on the level of neither municipality of Prague nor its administrative districts. I present the results of mapping Prague’s permanent public art quantities in its administrative districts, their primary function and visual typology. Two art works were chosen as opposites in many aspects. I am interested in their relationship with the site on the level of space, architecture, actions, aesthetics and meaning. Do they contribute to the identity of the site? In what extent are they site-specific?

Keywords: context, art, public space, Prague