Provider: The Ministry of Culture
Programme: Programme of Applied Research and Development of National and Cultural Identity - NAKI III
Implementation period: 01.03.2023 - 31.12.2027
Project number: DH23PO30VV042
Recipient/coordinator: Faculty of Restoration, University of Pardubice
Responsible Principal Investigator of the beneficiary/coordinator - Mgr. Mgr. Vladislava Říhová, Ph.D.
Recipient: VŠCHT Prague
Responsible Principal Investigator - PhDr. Zuzana Křenková, Ph.D.
The aim of the project is to create practical tools for the effective care of post-war works of art in public space with regard to their identification, registration, systematic preservation and care. These objects are among the most endangered groups of national cultural heritage. We have already dedicated a previous scientific project (2016-2020) to this topic, when we registered exterior works created between the 1950s and 1980s. We have created an online accessible map Sculptures and Cities with more than 5200 records of artworks in the country. Many of the objects we documented have recently disappeared.
More endangered than exterior works are interior realisations, which disappear during reconstructions and demolitions of socialist architecture and disappear without closer identification and documentation. The vast majority of them are not known to the professional public. The main applied aim of the research is to create a new layer of the expert interactive map Sculptures and Cities 2: Interiors with information verified in contemporary written sources, which will give an overview of a selection of works, often by important artists. It will contain at least 3000 entries on works of different techniques and materials (reliefs, paintings, textile objects, mosaics, typographic elements, etc.).
In connection with the processing of archival data and research, a specialised public database will be created, Innovative Techniques and Materials in Post-War Art for Public Space. It will incorporate specific terminology that is now little known and will analyse datasets relating to the frequency of use, the personalities of the creators and the date range of use of particular materials and techniques or production companies and workshops.
We will produce two applied outputs in the field of restoration of works in innovative materials. The model restoration will lead to the creation of a Monumental Procedure for the restoration of sculptural works in glass laminate. Based on in situ surveys, a Methodology for the Survey of Sculptural Works in Concrete will be developed identifying details of materials and techniques for the creation of concrete sculptures.
