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LEMBERK GRANARY UNVEILS 2023 EVENT PROGRAMME

No one was hibernating at Lemberk granary this past winter. Renovations continued at the protected landmark, which the current owners, Lucie Havlová and Tomáš Hendrych, purchased three years ago to convert into a cultural and social venue. We joined them to have a look at their event programming plans. So, how are renovations progressing and what can visitors look forward to this season?

LEMBERK GRANARY UNVEILS 2023 EVENT PROGRAMME
LEMBERK GRANARY UNVEILS 2023 EVENT PROGRAMME

Text: Simona Martínková • Translation: Elizabeth Spacilova • Cover photograph © H&S

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Without a doubt, the largest construction project under way at the former granary since the autumn of 2022 has been the installation of toilets. It has received a lot of attention because toilets are an absolute must for the visitor infrastructure. They should be finished by summer.

Concrete foundations © Tomáš Hendrych

Meanwhile, work is also progressing on the flooring and the restoration of the original entryway into the building.

“Because it was initially very clear that the previous building manager had covered the original flooring on the ground floor with chipboard panels, we used probes to examine what was underneath them,” explains Tomáš Hendrych. “After we discovered the historic wooden flooring, we went on to find out what condition it was in. About half of the old planks on the ground floor can stay, but the bad ones will be replaced with new ones. At the end, the wooden floor will be sanded down and finished with hardwax oil,” he describes.

Installing the larch double door in the same dimensions as the original entrance © Tomáš Hendrych

The 2023 exhibition season in the light and the semi-darkness

This year’s opening, which is scheduled for 6 May, visitors will be able to view the educational exhibition Lemberk Step by Step. Additional exhibitions are also being prepared. Objects made by sculptor Jiří Beránek will gradually be added to the area around the granary; Beránek created the land-art sculpture Timelessness at the sculpture symposiums held at Lemberk in the 1990s. His oeuvre is being commemorated in broader contexts at and around the granary by curator Silvie Stanická, who is also the author of a monograph about Beránek.

Jiří Beránek in the Semi-Darkness of Memory will be open to the public between 15 June and 31 October. Visitors will be able to notice the correlations of relationships and ideas and the imprints these have left on the sculpted material, which allows them to be observed and to transform over time. On display in the granary will be Beránek’s early objects dating from his final years of art school and first years after graduating, as well as examples of his best works from the late 1980s and 1990s.

Over the space of twenty years, a period which is also shown in the exhibition, Jiří Beránek’s art became a principal material-oriented body of sculptural works systematically examining the relationship between people, location, and architecture. Photograph © Silvie Stanická archive

Grain Talks and partnership with Kistefos Museum

The Baroque granary at Lemberk will host a series of five seminars which the organisers have called Grain Talks. The theme of each talk will concern the cultural development of the granary and offer listeners the chance to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the historical and local contexts.

“We want people to understand what makes the Lemberk granary unique and what its future purpose should be. We’ve got our own ideas, but we’re also prepared to modify them. The seminars will also form the basis for future programming,” says Lucie Havlová.

This visual will be used to highlight talks on interesting topics starting as early as this May: Lemberk Landscape Conservation Zone (23 May) led by David Vávra, M.Arch. (in Czech)

I. Grain Talks motto:
    You’ll never find tedious
    Zdislava the Sainted
    Pilgrims grow generous
    On getting acquainted (David Vávra)

“Lemberk granary is both our joy and our concern,” the co-owner quips.

The project receives financial support from EEA Funds and Norway Grants, the Ministry of Culture, Liberec Region, and the Czech-German Friendship Fund. Private patrons are also donating funds to the granary.

“We feel a strong sense of duty and gratitude for the fact that our aims resonate with the visions that these institutions and individuals have. The granary’s programme is a mission and a hobby for us. Tomáš Hendrych and I have usually enjoyed challenges in which we’ve built what we hope are valuable activities from nothing,” Havlová adds.

As Havlová explains, they have always tried to make sure their projects also touched on education about materials, arts, crafts, architecture, and sustainability.

“We enjoyed forging partnerships with foreign institutions, drawing lessons and inspiration from them. And our programme at the granary also follows in this tradition, as we aim to educate, entertain, and inspire visitors. In addition to exhibitions, this year we’ll be holding Grain Talks, with locals and out-of-towners meeting up with experts to discuss specific topics. The aim of these seminars is to find for the Lemberk granary an optimal programme and economic model which would interest visitors to Lemberk Castle as well as the local community,” Havlová says.

If all goes well, the events held in Lemberk may help identify a more general formula for how landmarks might operate in the future so they are integrated into present-day life instead of being mere explorations into history or visual props.

Norway’s Kistefos Museum and The Twist designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group. Photograph: Simona Martínková

A good partner that is helping to set up and organise everything is Kistefos Museum in Norway. The art museum and sculpture park’s curator, Kate Smith, and her colleague will present the concept behind this successful institution at the granary’s Grain Talk on 15 June: Art in the Landscape and in the Public Space.

Event information can be found on social networks and at www.sypkalemberk.cz