The exhibition will feature a selection of essential works that have been acquired by the collection in recent years, including paintings, spatial objects, and video art installations by Czech and international artists such as Anna Uddenberg, Zsófia Keresztes, Pakui Hardware, Klára Hosnedlová, Igor Hosnedl, Anna Hulačová, Eliška Konečná, and Eva Koťátková. Many of these works will be on display in Prague for the first time.
Over the last decade Havrlant Art Collection has developed into one of the leading collections of contemporary art in the Czech Republic. Since its founding in 2015 it has focused primarily on supporting younger artists, following their work over the long term. The collection was first presented to the public in 2022 at the group exhibition HAC#1, which took place at Pragovka Gallery during Prague Art Week22. At that time the curatorial selection focused on painted works in the collection, which were complemented by several sculptural objects.
One of the traits that has long determined the direction of the Havrlant Art Collection is an interest in the medium of the moving image—video art. Thanks to the professional focus of collector Kateřina Havrlant, who has a long history in the tech industry, the collection has focused on digital art since the very beginning of its activities. The exhibition HAC#2 will thus feature videos by Czech artists such as Jakub Jansa, Valentýna Janů, Marie Lukáčová, and Roman Štětina, who explore themes of digital transformation, corporeality, personal identity, and environmental crisis. In recent years the collection has also focused on acquiring works by foreign artists, and the exhibition will therefore include objects Swedish artist Anna Uddenberg, Tunisian-Italian artist Monia Ben Hamouda, Lithuanian duo Pakui Hardware, Hungarian sculptor Zsófia Keresztes, Prague-based French artist Julie Béna, and a relief by Polish artist Cezary Poniatowski. There will also be pieces by the Berlin-based Czech artist Klára Hosnedlová, whose work from the series To Infinity (2023) will be on display for the first time in the Czech Republic.
“The aim of the exhibition is to look back at ten years of collecting activity during which we have attempted to focus on the youngest generation of artists from central Europe. As the venue for this show we have chosen the Mánes Exhibition Hall, which historically was a space mainly for exhibitions highlighting the current directions of Czech and foreign artists. We believe that after a long period in which exhibitions of this type were absent from Mánes, visitors will now once again be able to see the kind of artistic event for which the gallery was originally intended. At the same time, our motivation is to inspire budding collectors to take an interest in contemporary art, ” says Kateřina Havrlant.
Curator Ján Gajdušek, who has been managing the Havrlant Art Collection for many years, has prepared a selection of works that builds on the first exhibition of the collection in 2022, which focused mainly on painting. In addition to paintings, the exhibition will also feature objects and video art from recent years. The exhibition thus does not aspire to be a mere overview but also a statement about the changes in contemporary art and the collector’s perspective of it. It deliberately highlights the media, themes, and artistic approaches that have shaped artistic and social discourse in recent years.
From 25 to 28 September 2025 the exhibition will be a part of Prague Art Week25, the Czech Republic’s largest event dedicated to fine art. The opening ceremony on 25 September will include the launch of a catalog mapping the development, operations, and acquisitions of the Havrlant Art Collection. The exhibition will run until 6 October and will be open to the general public free of charge.
