Prague Art Gallery Is Now a Real Airbnb

The artists collective RAFANI is engaging Galerie NoD in a unique art project. For the occasion, the grounds of Galerie NoD will be transformed to a fully fledged private flat furnished with the group’s artefacts, available for rent by members of the general public, either local or visitors to Prague, for two or more nights, through mediation by Airbnb.

The project, entitled RAFANI Art Apartment in the Heart of the City, is aimed at contributing in a novel way to the current public debate about the impact of short-term rentals on the character of residential urban neighbourhoods and on the availability of housing to long-time city dwellers.

The flat’s occupants will receive an unorthodox guide of today’s Prague. The exhibition will incorporate a broad platform for discussion focused on the overall potential, social consequences and limitations of the sharing economy at large.

The flat is a project mounted by the art collective Rafani, encompassing a month-long period. The flat has a separate bedroom with a twin bed, bedside tables, a wardrobe and a toilet table. The living room is furnished with a sofa and two armchairs offering an ideal angle for watching tv. The dining room is fully furnished to accommodate four guests. Toilet, bathroom and kitchenette are accessible from communal space. The flat is situated on the same floor with a coffee bar and a small theatre hall.

Czech art group Rafani was founded in 2000 along clearly defined democratic principles.

The group’s work is centered around collective approach and engagement, with focus on general current affairs. Rafani have long been concerned with public space art, structural concept of exhibitions, as well as with metaphoric possibilities of art conceived as an instrument with the potential to activate local environment and site-specific discourse.

Rafani have been producing exhibitions, performances,  videos, and interventions based on a comprehensive detailed planning process, evolved on a generous scale and laying emphasis on the simplicity and functionality of the definitive form.

The project will incorporate a broad platform for discussion focused on problems of the sharing economy, “platform capitalism”, and gentrification of urban areas, counting with the participation of artists and representative figures from the fields of economy, architecture and urban planning, local government, and mediation web platforms.

The flat can be hired on the web through Rafani apartment