We warmly invite you to the official opening of the exhibition, which will take place on Wednesday 9 December 2026 at 6.00 pm.

The exhibition Crafts – assembling worlds through touch… focuses on presenting Czech and international art projects whose creators use traditional techniques and materials as means of expression, incorporating them into the process of artistic research and critical artistic practice. These primarily include the following types of artistic crafts: glassmaking, ceramics and porcelain, textile art, lace-making, jewellery-making and cabinet-making. Many of these crafts have historically helped to shape the character of the regions within the Ústí nad Labem Region, contributing to its economic prosperity and cultural wealth; today, their potential is being revitalised as part of a profound transformation of this area, which has been marked by long-term environmental and social exploitation.

All the artistic projects presented in the exhibition utilise these traditional craft techniques within the context of contemporary artistic strategies and critical themes. The thematic areas of the exhibition include working with traditional crafts in conjunction with an exploration of historical memory and its reinterpretation in the context of contemporary social processes; the use of craft as a tool for engagement with specific, often minority, communities; the examination of traditional crafts in the context of gender and identity politics; and the integration of traditional crafts into artistic projects that emphasise issues of sustainable development and environmental responsibility. The interweaving of traditional crafts and contemporary art thus represents a powerful tool for reflecting, through historical, handcrafted techniques, both current global social challenges and their manifestations in the local environment as represented by specific communities, issues or stories. When used in this way, traditional techniques are not perceived by the artists participating in the exhibition as expressions of historical or cultural heritage, but become a conceptual medium that carries a deeper and highly topical meaning.