PAW insider

Curator at SEA Foundation, Julia Fidder, was invited to visit Prague Art Week 2024. This year Prague Art Week (PAW) hosted its third iteration. The internationally focused event knows a long history and has morphed over the past years into the organization it is today. With an origin in the locally focused Týden umění (2018 – 2021) and later SUMO Prague (2021 – 2023), which already had a more international focus, PAW found a new form under the guidance of director Lenka Bakes. The art week now aims to bring more attention from Europe and around the globe to the Prague artscene, while strengthening the bonds between initiatives and individual artists locally.

Art Weeks internationally

With its young character, yet quick development, PAW’s director Bakes aims to keep up with the examples set by older and more established art weeks: “PAW is structured around similar principles and goals as the art weeks in our neighboring countries. We don’t want to differentiate ourselves; on the contrary, we aim to meet the standards of the major European capitals – We look to Berlin and Vienna Art Week, our older siblings, as our inspiration. Like them, we respond to the artistic infrastructure of our city and are influenced by the strength of the country’s cultural policies. Compared to our western neighbors, we rely more heavily on private funding. On the other hand, compared to our other neighbors, we benefit from relatively generous and well-established public support even in times of crises. In this sense, Prague finds itself somewhere in the middle, both geographically and in terms of funding. As for the program, Prague lacks private galleries with significant international reach. As a result, much of the program is shaped by the vibrant local alternative culture, which brings a lot of creativity and makes it highly engaging.” If we look at the organizations that participated in PAW’24 we can indeed point out many non-profit and more experimental art spaces that offer a rich and often young program as part of the art week. Absolute highlights this year were Biennale Matter of Art, Berlinskej Model, Holešovická Šachta and MeetFactory, which all presented rich exhibitions including emerging artists.

Hosts and spaces

This year, PAW was adorned with their success in scouting alternative places for their own program. This crystalized in an event to be held at Palác Savarin, which before was not open yet for the public, and will for some considerable amount of time also stay closed after PAW. This resulted in an unique opportunity for (international) guests to explore the beauty of the city through its architectural richess. Bakes: “Palác Savarin was included in the program for the first time, and it truly offered a unique opportunity provided to us by the developer Crestyl. We knew that this baroque building would attract significant interest from the public, and that turned out to be the case. Its central location served as an information point and a hub for the broader program. The building on Jeruzalemská Street, which has five floors, was included for the second time. There, we provided space for both Prague-based and out-of-town galleries, art collections, and artists who do not have exhibition spaces in Prague. This location also featured an exhibition by Melody Qingmei Li, a resident artist from Hong Kong.”

Besides these pop-up exhibition spaces, the program of PAW included offspaces, established galleries –some with a commercial objective, some more experimental– but also museums or art centers. With each of them bringing their own characteristics and objectives to the table. But with PAW’s vision emphasizing the need of togetherness and stronger bonds amongst the local scene, we can wonder whether the individual characteristics of these places might complicate the matters of coming closer.

Sustainable collaboration and togetherness

Bakes states that the networks in Prague are indeed quite fragmented and reflects on how PAW, as a temporal umbrella organization, attempts to connect them.  To foster exchange between these institutions PAW engages in a multitude of methodologies: they pair parts of the program thematically which helps visitors to plan their itineraries based on their interests; allowing the institutions to obtain shared audiences and visibility through collective efforts in promotion, while going against institutional isolation. Secondly, PAW brings together institutions, curators and artists in roundtable discussions and networking events to foster dialogue and exchange. They note that these modes of communication and encountering lead to future partnerships and help strengthen individual practices through shared knowledge.

Emphasis here is put towards laying the groundwork to create sustainable partnerships that echo far beyond the one-week timeframe of PAW according to Bakes: “Our focus is not just on the one-week PAW event but also on fostering long-term partnerships. By emphasizing sustainable collaboration models, institutions are encouraged to continue working together beyond the festival. This might take the form of ongoing project development, research initiatives, or shared resource strategies that build continuity. There are many methods to foster collaboration, but to move beyond words, we need people to take action and plan ahead. What I learned is that building personal connections remains crucial; meeting in person at Art Week events is far more impactful than just having online calls. I believe that personal bonds and friendships are the most important factors.”

PAW as a platform

Although the pop-up spaces this year were carefully curated, the exhibitions in PAW’s own program did not always keep up. The selection of artists in their exhibitions would have benefitted from a more thorough curatorial vision, which could have layered a narrative that would be more aligned with PAWs role as mediator to present and promote all sides of the Prague art scene. While galleries and art initiatives had put great curatorial force behind the selection in whom to represent this edition, parts of PAW’s own program were lacking this same critical inquiry. Though, in the podcast series Educare, which was produced by PAW, a particular theme of ‘care’ was explored in-depth, part of the exhibitions presented by PAW lacked this same coherence. It might be the case that the format of an art week provides its limitations, there still lies great potential for PAW to utilize the platform they have built to both stratify their own organizational efforts in relation to urgent topics and to further support and promote the local scene, specifically the individual artists.

However, the platform PAW is offering proves to be in constant change and growth. Recently, PAW co-founded The Spider, a collaboration between several European Art Weeks and Gallery Weekends: “The Spider initiative plays a vital role in strengthening our connections both locally and across Europe. Cross-promotion forms the foundation of Spider’s efforts, allowing artists and institutions to elevate each other’s work. This also serves as a springboard for other forms of collaboration, such as guest exchanges, residencies, and impromptu partnerships that arise naturally.”

PAW 2024

The emphasis on international collaboration, however, goes far beyond mutual promotion or knowledge exchange. According to Bakes, especially in current times, closeness and non-competitive efforts are crucial: “On a European scale, collaboration is even more vital in the current climate, where cultural exchange is key to maintaining unity and fostering creativity across borders. In a time when political, economic, and cultural differences can easily create divides, initiatives like PAW and The Spider serve as bridges. They foster a sense of solidarity, enabling artists and institutions to exchange ideas, share platforms, and support each other’s efforts, making the art world more inclusive and interconnected.” Prague Art Week indeed bubbles through its encounters – it is a place where organizations find each other but also for the local scene to hang out or meet international guests. While the art world is becoming more and more precarious and divided, PAW aims to be a platform that fosters exchanges and collaborations, answering an essential need. We can look forward to the 2025 edition of Prague Art Week with excitement and big expectations, I at least am eager to see to how Bakes and her team further facilitate a sense of togetherness and how they will go on with critically positioning themselves in current times.

Prague Art Week 2024 took place from 5.09 – 08.09.2024