The group is led by:

doc. PhDr. Pavlína Morganová, Ph.D.

Focus:

The aim of the AVU History Research Group is to expand the scope of the project The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague 1799–1999: Art Education and Canon. This project, prepared by the Research Centre of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (VVP AVU) in collaboration with the Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences, has been submitted to the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR) for funding for the period 2026–2028. Its main output will be a scholarly publication interpreting the transformations of art education at AVU from 1799 to 1999, in relation to changing societal understandings of art’s function, expectations, and ideas of quality. The project brings together leading experts on specific historical periods from AVU, the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, UMPRUM, and the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Within the framework defined by the project, the research team will address the development of education in painting, sculpture, but also in architecture, printmaking, and restoration. It will also focus on the history and transformation of AVU exhibitions, gender aspects of study, international students, the Czech–German and Czech–Slovak contexts, among others. As a secondary output, the project will produce a complete catalogue of AVU students from the Academy’s founding to the present, as well as a detailed chronology of its institutional history.

The mission of the Research Group is to broaden the project’s scope, extend it to new topics, and link its primarily art-historical focus with other dimensions of life at AVU. The group will create a space for discussion on how this fundamental research can be developed creatively and made relevant for the contemporary AVU and its alumni.

The group is open to all students and faculty interested in the history of our institution. It reaches out both to members of the Department of Theory and History of Art (KTDU) and theoretical PhD candidates, as well as to studio environments where artistic practice emerges — the very practices that the project will reflect upon from a historical perspective.

The participation of practicing artists in the research group is considered highly valuable. Within its framework, new exploratory projects may arise, examining various aspects of the Academy’s functioning in the past and present. These may take the form of artistic research, theoretical essays on specific topics, web projects, podcasts, exhibitions, maps, or presentations of archival materials.

We consider it important that the research undertaken by VVP AVU expands to include previously overlooked themes, intersects with various layers of the school, enriches them mutually, and strengthens the connection with our alumni community.

Partners & connections:

AVU Archive
Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Department of Art History at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University
Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague (UMPRUM)

Research Groups

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AVU Research Groups

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