7. October 2025
How did modern art and design emerge in Brno? What were the methods of arts and crafts education? And how did the former School of Arts and Crafts evolve into today’s Secondary School of Art and Design and Higher Vocational School Brno? The exhibition traces the hundred-year story of a Central European institution where local folk traditions met experimental artistic avant-garde, obedience to political authority coexisted with bold free thinking, and traditional craftsmanship intertwined with new media. In short, it presents the results of a team research project, published in greater detail in a book of the same name.
The exhibition is divided into six chronological sections, each framed by historical milestones that often had a profound impact on the school’s development. At the same time, it can be seen as an inevitably incomplete report on Brno’s artistic life, viewed through the lens of one secondary art school.
The title of the exhibition, “By the Head and by the Hands,” refers to the unique nature of artistic work and art education. More specifically, it recalls certain teaching methods that the exhibition highlights. In a broader sense, it marks an attempt to capture shifting ideas about the social significance of art — and about how one actually becomes an artist.
The Moravian Gallery in Brno, Střední škola umění a designu a vyšší odborná škola Brno
Lada Hubatová-Vacková, Vojtěch Märc
Terezie Petišková, Johana Lomová, Veronika Rollová, Tomáš Zapletal, Valéria Bláha, David Bláha, Kateřina Kuthanová a další
Jitka Pernesová (DUMB)
Ditta Pfefferová (UMPRUM)
