Prague Art Week is an open platform that connects key players of the Prague art scene—galleries, museums, exhibition halls, private collections, off-space galleries, and independent projects. The long-term goal of the festival is to strengthen the city’s artistic ecosystem and make it accessible to both a broader local audience and an international professional public.
Over the past four years, Prague Art Week has become one of the city’s major cultural events. As in previous editions, this year’s program will once again connect more than 40 venues and offer around 100 events, continuously expanding its scope and introducing new formats. But what has taken place over the past four years? How has the festival evolved, and what were the highlights of each edition?
The very first edition of PAW was launched and based at the New Stage of the National Theatre, where the festival also introduced the Superstudio format. Within these panel discussions, prominent figures of the Czech scene were presented, such as Marie Tomanová and Krištof Kintera, alongside international art professionals including Ukrainian gallerist Maryna Shcherbenko and representatives of Vienna Art Week, Julia Hartmann and Theresia Nickl, who introduced the organization of the world’s first art week. From its very first year, the festival not only unified and enriched the program of Prague’s institutions and galleries, but also outlined another important direction—deepening collaboration with the global art scene and sharing knowledge and experience.
A year later, in 2023, the opening ceremony moved to the Trade Fair Palace of the National Gallery Prague. As part of another Superstudio format, Magdalena Jetelová and Tadeáš Podracký spoke, while collectors Kateřina Havrlantová and Pavlína Pudilová presented their visions. The evening concluded with a performance by Italian artist and choreographer Michele Rizzo. In addition to collaborations with institutions, the program also opened space for site-specific installations in the postmodern interiors of a former bank building on Jeruzalémská Street, in cooperation with festival partners. At the same time, the festival expanded beyond Prague, emphasizing connections with regions—collaborating, for example, with Galerie Pekelné sáně in Kroměříž and including the Ora et Lege festival in Broumov, which presented, among other things, a performative project by international artist Janice Kerbel at the Agnes Monastery.
The 2024 edition was launched at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art alongside Josef Bolf’s exhibition Melancholy of Outer Limits, and featured international names such as John Rafman, Antony Gormley, and Damien Hirst. The program also included significant solo presentations—for example, Vojtěch Kovařík’s exhibition at Museum Kampa. Events took place across major institutions such as Kunsthalle Praha and Rudolfinum, as well as in smaller galleries and new projects, including the Savarin Palace. It was here that the first edition of the Young Selection format took place, in which an expert jury selects emerging artists and provides them with space and visibility within the festival.
Last year’s PAW25 edition opened with the exhibition HAC#2 – Havrlant Art Collection 10th Anniversary at the Mánes Exhibition Hall, presenting ten years of building one of the most prominent private collections of contemporary art in the Czech Republic. The program also included, for example, the opening of the new futuristic gallery KodlContemporary and strengthened collaboration with leading Czech institutions, including Kunsthalle Praha and the National Gallery. The successful Young Selection format continued, connecting with the new art hub The House in Ořechovka and once again supporting the emerging generation of artists.
An important aspect of Prague Art Week is its engagement with unconventional locations—ranging from public spaces and historical buildings to private apartments of collectors, such as those on Ovenecká Street, as well as temporarily accessible private collections. Open studios also play a significant role, offering insight into the working processes of artists. Last year, these included the studios of the art hub The House, while previous editions featured the Střešovice studios, Galerie Prám studios, Genius Loci studios, and the former loft space Bubny.
Prague Art Week thus continuously connects institutions, galleries, independent initiatives, and artists themselves, making contemporary art accessible to a wide public in its diverse forms.
The festival will also build on last year’s pilot program Meet the Scene, which invites art professionals from around the world to Prague. Curators, artists, gallerists, managers, and journalists will again have the opportunity to gain insight into the functioning of the contemporary Prague scene through curated visits to galleries, institutions, and off-space projects, meetings with artists, and participation in selected accompanying programs. The initiative creates space for networking and for a deeper understanding of the local scene within an international context.
Prague Art Week 2026 will once again present Prague as an important center of contemporary art in the international context, making artistic events accessible both to a broader local audience and to a global professional public.
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