Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU) purchased the gallery building from the Czech Architecture Foundation in 2020 and the contract with the original gallery manager was still two years old. In the spring of 2022, ČVUT announced a tender for a new gallery director, in which the jury selected Karolína Plášková. The J. Fragner Gallery (GJF) now falls directly under the Rector's Office of the CTU and should continue to serve the public, dramaturgically independent of the CTU - i.e., the primary goal is not to exhibit the projects of the academic community. The gallery is financed by the CTU (the operation of the building) and through cultural grants from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague, the Foundation of Czech Architecture and the State Culture Fund.
The new gallery team wants to mediate architecture in its social, cultural, economic and legal dimensions. The physical exhibition should not be built on panels with photographs or models and heavy texts (i.e. reproductions of buildings), but rather should function as a thematic and spatial framework for a lively accompanying programme and acquitances - or community building.
The GJF will focus on presenting topics that are current in architecture or can enrich it in some way.
With regard to funding opportunities and staffing and ecological sustainability, the gallery wants to focus on organizing longer-term exhibitions. A rich accompanying programme will thus be an essential part of the dramaturgy. As far as possible, the team will strive to make these events as inclusive as possible - free admission, providing childcare for caring parents, providing audiovisual recording of the event or live streaming directly, and eventually through investment in the physical accessibility of the gallery.
A critical approach should be embedded not only in the concept of the exhibition programme, but also in the way the gallery operates. This means, among other things, that the gallery will:
- to make the different types of care visible and appreciated (often invisible), to organise the programme and its functioning in such a way that it is accessible to the widest possible audience (people with disabilities, people with children, etc.);
- operate in a sustainable way, prioritising quality over quantity, relationships over performance, care and cooperation over competition;
- etc.
As the owner, Czech Technical University in Prague had to carry out the necessary maintenance work (painting, floor sanding, sanitary facilities) before the gallery was "reopened" so that the space would serve the new needs well. The director of the gallery launched an opencall, in which she is looking for creative people to take part in the furnishing. The aim is to turn the Bethlehem Chapel site into a cultural and community space in the historic centre of Prague for various social gatherings.
The gallery will also sell scholarly publications and the ground floor should become a student club with a café, seating furniture, study room equipment, shelves for books and magazines and a children's corner.
