What is the most bizarre thing you have ever had to deal with when installing an exhibition?
RADKA VONDRAŠOVÁ (Event Manager): Every exhibition and installation is a challenge in its own way, because Artium is a space that can be quite demanding not only for the artists themselves, but also for the curators. This is partly because our audience is not primarily made up of art lovers, but of people who often encounter art quite incidentally. We literally place exhibitions in their path.
What is it usually like for you 20 minutes before an opening?
RV: You can definitely feel that pre-launch tension. But we usually already have visitors in the Artium space, so everything has to be ready 20 minutes before the opening. I’m happy to see more and more people developing a genuine relationship with art and learning to appreciate and enjoy it.
How do you know when an exhibition has really been successful?
RV: As I mentioned, we really appreciate the fact that people have learned to come to Artium specifically to see art. For us, returning visitors are the best proof—and the greatest reward—that an exhibition has been successful. It shows that we have made the right curatorial choices and selected artists who appeal not only to regular art enthusiasts, but also to the general public, who have found their own way to art thanks to the exhibitions at Artium. And the icing on the cake is when we manage to sell some of the works directly from an exhibition. So far, we have been most successful in this respect with a charity exhibition featuring works by Ukrainian artists.
Which exhibition will you never forget, and why?
RV: It would definitely be Veronika Psotková’s exhibition. It was the first exhibition in the space under its new name, Artium. It was also the first exhibition by a female artist and the first one featuring sculptures exclusively. The fact that the artist had to literally “sew” one of the sculptures together on site only added to the experience. What’s more, the wire sculptures suited the Artium space exceptionally well.
