The National Gallery Prague is “online”. The largest Czech gallery does its best to remain open digitally even at the time of the coronavirus pandemic. The NGP adapts to the situation presenting its current activities for the public mostly on social media.

Virtual tours, live broadcasts of exhibitions or online workshops – this is only a brief account of what the National Gallery Prague has prepared. Its online activities will cover the recently opened exhibitions and display collections that are mostly hidden from the public.

The NGP prepares a special format called “Do you have a minute?” presenting major artworks from the NGP collections on Instagram. Its curators and other experts also prepare the new projects for Twitter.

“We are in contact with our visitors and fans through social media keeping them informed on the latest news. We seek to offer good-quality works as much as we can in this situation. We do our best to adapt to it and respond expeditiously to the current circumstances remaining ‘open’ for our visitors to make their time under closure at least slightly more pleasant. We also believe that positive contents in the media are more needed now than ever,” says the NGP spokeswoman Eva Sochorová. 

Virtual guided tours

Owing to a Komerční Banka donation, the National Gallery Prague can offer the first virtual guided tour presenting the exhibition Echoes of the Venice Biennale: Stanislav Kolíbal taking place in the currently closed Trade Fair Palace. Curator Julia Bailey will show the spectators certain parts of the exhibition seeking to create the impression that the visitor is physically present at the display. The guided tour is now under preparation.

Also under preparation is a documentary about the architecture of Brutalism linked with the exhibition called NO DEMOLITIONS! Forms of Brutalism in Prague. The program will be primarily designed for social media.

Educational programs

A team of experts, who prepare and implement programs for the public, works on online workshops and events designed especially for children.

The program called The Art of (Staying at) Home publishes a new challenge each week to stimulate children to creative activities inspired by a selected artwork. The tasks are playful and designed to be fulfilled easily using available materials. Anyone can participate and only materials and aids usually found at home are used. The first challenge inspired the children to create figures out of soap; they are easy to make and also reflect our day-to-day reality. Experienced educators seek to make the current situation easier for both children and parents by means of these enjoyable tasks.

Online collections

The National Gallery Prague houses rich collections of artworks and enriches them on a regular basis. Its online collections can be found at sbirky.ngprague.cz. The visitors can see the works from the comfort of their homes and study their nuances and details.

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