MeetFactory is a non-profit organization and contemporary art centre in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. It has four departments (music, theatre, gallery, and artists-in-residence) and the rest of the program is focused on interdisciplinary and educational projects relating to

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic co ...

History of the building

MeetFactory was founded in 2001 by

David Černý David Černý (born 15 December 1967) is a Czech sculptor. His works can be mainly seen in many locations in Prague. Early life Černý was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia. From 1988 to 1994 he studied at the Kurt Gebauer Studio at the Academy ...

. After the destructive floods of 2002, MeetFactory evacuated its original premises in

Holešovice Holešovice () is a district in the north of Prague situated on a meander of the River Vltava, which makes up the main part of the district Prague 7 (an insignificant part belongs to Prague 1). In the past it was a heavily industrial suburb; ...

, re-opening three years later in an industrial building in

Smíchov Smíchov () is (since 1909) a district of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, and is part of Prague 5. It is on the west bank of the Vltava river. History Between 1945 and 1989, the district contained a monument dedicated to Soviet tan ...

, situated between an elevated road and a railway line. The program started after a substantial reconstruction in 2007. A board composed of the artist David Černý, musician

David Koller David Koller (born 27 September 1960) is a Czech musician and record producer. Career Music Koller started his career in the early 1980s as the drummer of Jasná Páka and has also played in various other bands, including Žentour, Pusa, and ...

and film and theatre director

Alice Nellis Alice Nellis (born 3 January 1971 in České Budějovice) is a Czech filmmaker. Nellis first worked as a flautist before studying English literature and American literature. In 1996–2001 she studied scriptwriting and dramaturgy at FAMU. She ...

approved the long-term plan of MeetFactory.

Music program

In March 2010, in addition to residencies, galleries and theatre, a fourth space for music was added. The concert hall can accommodate 1,000 people and hosts 50–70 concerts per year, including regular and one-off events. In addition to its own music events, MeetFactory organizes around 40 co-productions with various local and national organizations each year, and collaborates with festivals such as Lunchmeat, Sperm, and Komiksfest, or with

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

s such as Amnesty International or with the Czech Association of Paraplegics.

Theatre program

The theatre program focuses on contemporary prose, as well as experimental interdisciplinary projects, often involving visual artists, musicians, or non-actors. The theater has an area of 150 square meters and 150 seats.

Galleries

MeetFactory has three galleries: the MeetFactory Gallery, the Kostka Gallery and the Wall Gallery.

Artists-in-residence

The international artists-in-residence program was established in 2007 and is the largest studio program in the Czech Republic. MeetFactory has fifteen studios, which host around 30 visual artists,

curators A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

, musicians,

theatre directors A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

or writers each year.

References