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News 2020

Press Statement of Martina Lehmannová, the Director of the Lidice Memorial, on her Resignation Lidice 21 January, 2020

24. 1. 2020

Press Statement of Martina Lehmannová, the Director of the Lidice Memorial, on her Resignation

Lidice 21 January, 2020

Several survivors of the extermination of Lidice do not like the results of an independent expert’s research, as they personally concern their family members. That is why they have accused the Lidice Memorial, and me personally as its director, that we do not keep to the facts and distort facts about Lidice’s history. Instead of supporting the independence of scientific knowledge and often painful coping with history, which is one of the tasks of this semi-budgetary organisation funded by the Ministry of Culture, the Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek decided that my appointment as director of the Memorial should be terminated. I have eventually decided to submit my resignation myself, because I no longer have confidence in the Minister of Culture.

The Lidice Memorial as a memory institution is very specific. It commemorates a history that is still alive. Its professional work as well as popularisation activity are therefore extremely important, especially in a situation of resurgent emotive debates concerning particularly the interpretations of World War II. Targeted attempts to politicize the Lidice Memorial legacy constantly occur. Under these circumstances, the funder’s support to professional work and real independence of memory institutions is all the more important.

In this delicate situation, I was taken aback by the approach of Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek; on 20 January 2020, I was invited by him to a meeting and informed that I could choose between resignation and dismissal. That was the Minister’s solution of a situation that arose in connection with a reportage of the Czech Television broadcast in June 2019. It included information from a material elaborated in 2015 by Vojtěch Kyncl, an employee of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences. According to this archive material, shortly before the Lidice tragedy the mother of one of Lidice children allegedly denounced to the police her Jewish subtenant. In November 2019, some of the Lidice children–survivors responded to this reportage with an open letter announcing the termination of their cooperation with the Lidice Memorial. My standpoint in this matter, which was not, and could not be categorical toward any side of the dispute, was seen as hostile. In a letter addressed to the constitutional bodies, I and the Lidice Memorial were accused of ignorance and of distorting the facts about Lidice history. Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek then had a meeting with the authors of the letter, and so did I in an effort to settle the situation.

Although I fully understand the emotions that may have been caused by this information, it is not permissible for a memory institution such as the Lidice Memorial to either immediately contest or ignore research outputs. If I have no support for this fundamental position of independence and critical thinking from the founder, I cannot continue my appointment as the director of the Lidice Memorial. Unfortunately, this approach of the Minister of Culture encourages the efforts to politicize the Lidice Memorial legacy. These are the main reasons for my resignation as on 21January, 2020.

The Lidice Memorial is of immense importance for the Czech Republic and the world. However, the mission of the memorial is to deal with history in its full scope, critically, not rejecting discussion, even about things that are unpleasant.

If I am to recapitulate nearly three years of my work, I must say that I did the maximum possible for the Lidice Memorial. I joined the institution in 2017, when we succeeded to arrange a special four-hour programme with the Czech Television, commemorating in all dignity the 75th anniversary of the extermination of the Lidice village. This media coverage contributed, among others, to a radical increase in visitor numbers in the Memorial in that year. Together with my new team, we succeeded in launching and internationally grounding an important knowledge contest for children and youth named Lidice for the 21st Century. The competition enhances knowledge of history and critical thinking. Besides children from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, it was attended by children from Poland last year, and this year it is expanding to German-speaking countries. I also managed to develop and establish contacts with similar museums and memorials around the world and in the Czech Republic. The high-quality collection of contemporary international art was enlarged with new acquisitions. We have taken the first steps to register the unique collection of works awarded within the Lidice International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts in the Central Register of Collections at the Ministry of Culture. We also focused on the long-neglected issue of land ownership in the reverent area.

I am and will remain proud of my work for the Lidice Memorial.

Mgr. Martina Lehmannová

Resigning director of the Lidice Memorial


Landscape 2020 - Lidice gallery welcomed first artworks

27. 1. 2020

The International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts with a beautiful theme Landscape has begun a new year. The first swallows in the form of beautiful and imaginative pictures are already coming from all over the world.

Here we bring you the first tasting.

Please send your artworks to the Lidice Gallery by February 14, 2020 at the latest.


PANEL ASSESSED CHILDREN'S WORKS OF ART EVEN UNDER THE STATE OF EMERGENCY

16. 3. 2020

Upwards of 22 thousand of children's works of art awaited the members of the panel of judges of the 48th International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice, who met at the Lidice Gallery on Thursday 12 March. 
In the afternoon of the same day the government of the Czech Republic declared the state of emergency due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The members of the panel as well as the management of the Lidice Memorial accepted the proposal that the 2nd-round session of the 48th ICEFA expert panel should immediately follow the 1st-round one. We anticipated that a week later we would not be able to meet. 
As the borders were closed, this year's panel of judges consisted exclusively of Czech teachers, visual artists and other professionals.
For more information about the 48th ICEFA panel of judges see the part Panel of Judges.


The preparations of ICEFA at the Lidice Gallery are well under way

27. 4. 2020

The preparations of the International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice (ICEFA) at the Lidice Gallery are well under way.

This year, the International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice saw more than 22 thousand entries. The theme LANDSCAPE engaged interest of children in 78 countries. Even under the state of emergency, the paintings, drawings, prints, 3D objects, photographs and films were assesses by the expert panel of judges at the Lidice Gallery.

These days, the Lidice Gallery sees the art photographer Martin Homola taking photos of award-winning entries. From 1 May on, preparatory and mounting works will take place at the Lidice Gallery for the 48th ICEFA – Landscape.

Now it is clear that the ceremonial opening of the 48th International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice, originally scheduled for 28 May, will be put back. If the situation around Covid-19 pandemic allows, the ceremonial opening of the exhibition with the medals and certificates presented to the winners will take place in late September.

Immediately after the mounting of the exhibition at the Lidice Gallery, we will create rich photographic documentation and a video report to share everything with you at the ICEFA Lidice website.

The results of the 48th ICEFA on the theme LANDSCAPE will be published on the website by 10 May.

For the latest events, follow the ICEFA Lidice website where you will find information about the opening of the Lidice Gallery and the possibility of viewing the exhibition of children's works of art with your own eyes.


The results published. Our congratulations to the winners!

7. 5. 2020

From this day on, the results of the 48th International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts featuring the theme LANDSCAPE are available on the ICEFA website, in the Awards section. Our congratulations to the winners! Our thanks go to all children participating in this year's exhibition. We extend our thanks also to teachers and parents for supporting their pupils, students and children. Upwards of 22 thousand entries by children from 78 countries arrived to the Lidice Gallery. To award medals and honourable mentions was really a very hard task for the jurors.

This time of the year we invite 'Rose of Lidice' medal winners to the opening ceremony in the garden of the Lidice Gallery. Not this year, however. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, we had to postpone the opening and medal- and certificate-giving ceremony to autumn. If possible, the opening ceremony will take place on Thursday 24 September 2020. For latest news see the ICEFA website.

While the opening ceremony has been postponed to autumn, the mounting of the exhibition is in full swing. The exhibition featuring the theme of LANDSCAPE will be opened for the public at the Lidice Gallery from 1 June, available for viewing till 31 January 2021. As we prolong the exhibition by two months, we believe that you will be able to visit Lidice and view the exhibition. For you who live far from Lidice, we will publish a video and photos in June.  

As every year we ask you the winners to check your personal data such as your name, address of the school etc.  This is the only way of avoiding mistakes in certificates for the winners and in the catalogue. Please, finish your checking by 14 May, send your comments to children@lidice-memorial.cz

Thank you. 
Stanislava Doleželová, ICEFA curator
Táňa Válková, ICEFA asistant


EXHIBITION IS OPENED, YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO VISIT

1. 6. 2020

1 June 2020, the International Children's Day, was the opening day for the 48th International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice 2020. The exhibition featuring the theme LANDSCAPE presents 1359 exhibits from 76 countries. You can find there not only colourful horizons of woods and meadows but also cityscapes. You will look in the greenhouse full of plants and see many big and small creatures who populate the landscape. Envelopes with tasks await you at the exhibition to help you learn something new about the landscape and the plants. 
The exhibition at the Lidce Gallery is opened daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Considering the situation, the extraordinary measures applied to the presence in the gallery are still in effect, thanks for complying. However, we hope that the situation will get only better and still adhere to the plan to hold the opening and prize-giving ceremony to the winners on 24 September 2020.
Having visited us yesterday on the occasion of the opening event, students of the Art School Řevnice are working on a video of the exhibition meant for you who are not able to come to Lidice and view it yourselves. It will be soon published on our website.
We are looking forward to your visit!
For more photos see the Ceremonial Opening.


Award Ceremony on September 24, 2020

2. 10. 2020

On Thursday, 24 September, the garden of the Lidice Gallery hosted the winners-announcement and prize-giving ceremony for the 48th International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice 2020, at which the highest awards of the exhibition, "Rose of Lidice" medals and Prizes of the Panel of Judges, were presented.

This year, glass pallettes representing the Prize of the Panel of Judges were awarded to the Art School Krnov and the Imro Weiner Kráľ Art School in Považská Bystrica.

For an article and photos from the ceremony, see Ceremonial opening.


Temporary Closing of the Lidice Gallery

12. 10. 2020

Starting on Monday October 12th, visits to museums, galleries, monuments and other cultural institutions are prohibited due to the aggravated epidemiological situation in the Czech Republic. The expositions of the Lidice Memorial, including the Lidice Gallery and the 48th ICEFA Lidice 2020, will temporarily close to the public from Monday October 12th. We will inform you about the reopening. Thank you for your understanding, we will be looking forward to seeing you again.


Let's participate in the 49th edition!

7. 12. 2020

In the last few weeks, we have sent out the invitations to participate in the 49th International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice 2021 to our participants from recent years, their schools and teachers and to the embassies of the Czech Republic abroad. Although it looks like the next year's edition will still have to face the adversity of coronavirus, we hope that the new theme will inspire you and that the exhibition will bring together beautiful and imaginative works of art as it always does.

In honor of the 100th anniversary of the drama R.U.R. by Karel Čapek and the invention of the word "robot", children will create on the theme:

ROBOT AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

with subthemes:

  • What the robot can(not) do
  • Inside the machine
  • R.U.R .: Robots in literature and film
  • Year 2121
  • Development and kinds of artificial intelligence
  • Technology and ethics
  • Data
  • Nanorobots

Artworks can be sent to the Lidice Gallery until the deadline of February 19, 2021.

Detailed information about the next edition, the invitation, the application and labels needed to participate can be found here on our websiteFor information in French, contact us at children@lidice-memorial.cz. 


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