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Ceremonial Opening

AWARD CEREMONY on September 24

On Thursday, 24 September, the garden of the Lidice Gallery hosted the winners-announcement and prize-giving ceremony, at which the highest awards of the exhibition, "Rose of Lidice" medals and Prizes of the Panel of Judges, were presented.

As has become a tradition, at 11 a.m., the ceremony was opened with a fanfare by the brass choir of the Marie Podvalová Art School In Prague 9.

Despite the difficult situation resulting from the covid-19 pandemic, a number of major guests were present. The awards were presented by: Eduard Stehlík – Director of the Lidice Memorial, Veronika Kellerová – Mayoress of Lidice, Vlastislav Ouroda – Under-Secretary for Cultural Heritage and Semi-Budgetary Organizations at the Ministry of Culture, Dita Limová – Head of UNESCO Relations Department of the Ministry of Culture, Hana Pištorová – a social sciences specialist at the Czech Centres, Pavla Havrlíková – Assistant of Under-Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Martin Vágner – Director of the Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Kateřina Černý Pixová – Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Markéta Andreides – Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology Prague, Petra Kalendová and Hana Doušová from the University of Pardubice and Josef Zedník, the chairman of the panel of judges of the exhibition.

In his greeting video speech, Minister of Culture Lubomír Zaorálek thanked the children for their good work and invited them to continue the long tradition of the International Children's Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice. This year, Mr. Pavel Horešovský as one of the Lidice Children honoured us with his visit.

The child winners received medals, certificates, reproductions of their respective entries and gifts – books, art accessories, complimentary tickets to castles and other prizes in a small backpack with this year's motive of the exhibition. Representatives of the Faculty of Chemical Technology, University of Pardubice, also presented the award-winning children with gift bags.

The later part of the ceremony was dedicated to the Prizes of the Panel of Judges – the highest awards bestowed on a Czech and a foreign school. This year, the Prize of the Panel of Judges for the Czech Republic went to the Art School Krnov. Children and their teacher Ivana Steiningerová received a glass palette from the hands of the chairman of the panel, Josef Zedník. The glass palette was made by the art glass-maker Jiří Pačinek.

The Prize of the Panel of Judges for a foreign school was also announced. This year, the prize winner is the Imro Weiner Kráľ Art School in Považská Bystrica. Because of current restrictions, the Slovak laureates were not able to receive their awards in person in Lidice; they will receive them at a ceremony in Slovakia.

In conclusion of the event, the flute trio Collegium Flautinium from the Marie Podvalová Art School appeared.

Also this year children could enjoy side events in the garden of the Lidice Gallery, inspired by the theme of the exhibition, which was "Landscape". An excellent show with birds of prey was presented by falconers from the Union of Czech Falconers and the organization Penthea. An interesting programme was organized also by The Institute of Experimental Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the Department of Water Technology and Environmental Engineering, the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague and the leisure centre Labyrint Kladno. The participants of the ceremony had the opportunity to plant into flowerpots Lidice rose plants prepared in cooperation with the Roza Mšec company and take them to their gardens or their balconies. Many visitors used the day for a tour of the Lidice memorial site or the latest addition to the Lidice Memorial – One-family House no. 116 exhibition, the "Lidice house", adjacent to the garden of the Lidice Gallery.

The exhibition, this year opened for visitors on the International Children's Day, 1 June 2020, was available for individual viewing throughout the day. The exhibition is open daily until 31 January 2021.