"The Museum of Memory should also have an impact on visitors through its spaces, and I think this historically valuable place has a genius loci that helps us empathize with the vanished time of our fathers, mothers, grandparents and unjustly forgotten brave men - all those who were crushed by the weight of both totalitarian regimes of the 20th century," said Councilwoman Hana Kordová Marvanová, chair of the museum's board of trustees.
The House of Pheasants at 3 Kanovnická Street will be open to the public, including the garden, from 10 am to 5 pm, and visitors will have the opportunity to take individual guided tours from 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm and 1 pm.
From 2 pm, interested parties can participate in a discussion about the upcoming historical exhibition, which will be led by historian Petr Hlaváček, architect Tomáš Hradečný and historians from the Museum of Memory of the 20th Century Jan Kalous and Petr Blažek.
The presentation of the book Post Scriptum by artist Jiří Sozanský will begin at 4 pm. This will be followed by a discussion with the author, historian Petr Koura and literary critic Libuša Heczková.
The Year of Miracles exhibition, mapping the key events that led to the collapse of the Soviet bloc thirty-one years ago, and Jiří Sozanský's new exhibition The Franz Kafka Trial, prepared in collaboration with Symposion and inspired by the life of Franz Kafka and the tragic fate of his sisters, will be on display throughout the day.
"Just a short distance from the House of Pážat is the so-called Hradčanský domček, where soldiers who served in the resistance during the war were imprisoned and tortured after February 48, and within sight of the Foreign Ministry, under whose windows Jan Masaryk died. Our presidents and protectors looked out of the windows of Prague Castle... I think that an exhibition commemorating the great and tragic moments of our nation in the 20th century belongs here at Hradčany," said Jan Kalous, director of the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century.
"We welcome the opportunity to exhibit a statue of Marshal Konev and to show different views of his personality, including the building of his cult in post-war Soviet Czechoslovakia. It is important, however, that other themes and historical figures related to the existence of Czechoslovakia are also given space. We are happy to be able to present our ideas about the future exhibition to the public," said Petr Blažek, a member of the board of directors and co-author of the exhibition design.
The House of the Passionists on the border of Hradčany and the New World was built gradually from the 16th century onwards, and the renowned architect Carlo Lurago participated in its reconstruction. It is a single-storey building with four wings, an inner courtyard and an adjacent garden. The building has been empty since 2008 and the Prague administration has searched in vain for a use for it. In the summer of 2020, Prague's councillors decided to house the Museum of the Memory of the 20th Century. Thus, after the Pážaty, the Hradčany poorhouse, the kindergarten and, most recently, the Architect's Office of the City of Prague, the exhibition will be housed here, reminding us of the two great totalitarian regimes of the last century. The Museum was founded by the City of Prague. Prague in November 2019 with the aim of creating a modern memory institution focusing on the key events of the 20th century on the territory of Czechoslovakia.
(Source: Press release of the City of Prague)