Vít Havránek

Vít Havránek is a leading art theoretician and curator with a significant presence on the international art scene. Since 2002 he has been director of the tranzit initiative for contemporary art and co-founder of tranzitdisplay (2007), an exhibition space. He worked at the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of the National Gallery in Prague and at the Prague City Gallery. He is co-founder of the production group pas (production of activities of the present), the other members of which included the artists Tomáš Vaněk and Jiří Skála.

He has curated or co-curated many exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad, e.g. Otto Piene. The Zero Experience (2002); Lanterna Magika. New technologies and Science in Czech Art in the 20th Century (2002); Július Koller. Kontakt (2004); Jiří Kovanda. I’m Not Against (2004); The Need to Document (2005); Definition of the Everyday (2005); I, an exhibition in three acts (2006), etc.

It is worth taking a close look at the exhibition action, word, movement, space, which was held at the end of 1999 and into 2000 at the Prague City Gallery (GHMP) and examined experiments in Czech and Slovak art of the 1960s, an adequate history of which was delayed by the arrival of normalisation. As the title indicates, the starting point was a collection of essays, manifestos and art programmes word, letter, action, voice (1967) compiled by Josef Hiršal and Bohumila Grögerová. Marginal artistic tendencies take centre stage that evaded the then dominant, theoretically anchored polarity of art informel and constructivism. Experiments on the borderline of art, music and literature (action art, kinetic art, experimental poetry, visionary architecture, work with space, etc.) emphasised a hybridity of form and were characterised more by the status of the art event than the material artefact and by the assumption that the viewer would be an active participant. In the introductory text to the catalogue Havránek drew attention to the fact that this was the “contemporary sensibility” of the 1990s, which set the stage for an interest in the art of the sixties. “It was an exhibition that for the generation of Czech artists reaching adulthood around 2000 summed up the hitherto non-contextualised historical precedents of their own endeavours and configured their relationship to the local tradition,” Tomáš Pospiszyl said, evaluating the project. [1]

One of the key exhibition projects of the following decade was Monument to Transformation (Prague City Gallery, 2009), the culmination of a long-running research project conducted by Vít Havránek and Zbyněk Baladrán. The exhibition used art (most often in the form of video, installations, photography, drawings, charts, tables and diagrams) to map out decades of the post-totalitarian transformational processes. The curators wanted to avoid falling into the trap of interpreting social change using the East/West opposition and so conceived of the exhibition as a view of the Czech experience from a global, post-colonial perspective. They compared the transformation of eastern Europe with similar processes in other European countries (Greece, Spain and Portugal), the countries of central and south America (Chile, Mexico and Argentina) and southeast Asia (the Philippines and Indonesia).

Atlas of Transformation, a collection of more than 200 entries illustrating transformational phenomena through an interdisciplinary prism, was published alongside the exhibition. The editors themselves viewed the Atlas as a “rhizomatic assemblage” (a reference to the “image of thought” propagated by Deleuze), that offered changing and decentralised semantic interconnections.

As a member of the tranzit.org international initiative, Havránek was co-curator of one of the three exhibition sections of Manifesta 8, the European Biennial of Contemporary Art in the Spanish cities of Cartagena and Murcia (2010/11). The collective of curators (Havránek, Zbyněk Baladrán, Dóra Hegyi, Boris Ondreička and Georg Shöllhammer) reacted to the set theme, i.e. “the region of Murcia in dialogue with northern Africa”, by defining themselves critically in relation to similarly conceived exhibition strategies and art show schemata. Aware of the pitfalls that institutional criticism practiced from theoretical positions encounters in the form of the contradiction between theory and practice, they created a space for the democratic discussion of curators and artists. They attempted to eliminate the power of curatorial practice and to arrive jointly at the formulation of exhibition conditions.

One of the activities of tranzit.cz and Havránek himself in the role of editor is the creation of the tranzit series, which is closely linked to other activities of the initiative, focuses on the region of central and eastern Europe, and generates three main outputs (the series of art publications, anthologies and catalogues, and navigation). The last named edition comprises translations and original Czech texts that offer an ideological and methodological framework applicable to the social phenomena or art practice of eastern Europe. This is derived from the series of pivotal texts of postcolonial studies that were to share in the creation of the concept behind Monument to Transformation and M8.

[1] Tomáš Pospiszyl, An Associative History of Art. Post-war art spanning generations and media (collage, intermedial and conceptual art, performance and film), tranzit.cz, Praha 2014, p. 156.

Education:

Mgr. (1997), PhDr., Ph.D. (2006)

1999–2006 
Filozofická fakulta UK, vedoucí práce Prof. Petr Wittlich, disertační práce: Autentické struktury. Osobnosti a struktury interpretace v československém umění 1949-2004, 2006.

1995–1996
Université Bordeaux 3, Prof. Robert Coustet

1989–1997
Filozofická fakulta UK, Prof. Petr Wittlich, diplomová práce: Český kinetismus 1956-1970 a skupiny Syntéza, 1997.

1985–1989
Gymnázium Jana Nerudy, Praha

Scholarships:

2005
iaspis, Stockholm, Sweden

2004
iscp, New York City
iaab, Basel, Switzerland

2001
Center for Advanced Visual Studies, MIT, Boston, USA

Selected lectures and talks:

2006
Art in General, New York, USA
ARCO, Madrid, Spain

2005
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam-University of Amsterdam
Konstfack-Index, Stockholm
Vienna Art Fair

2004
16 beaver group, New York City

2003
Austrian Cultural Forum New York City, USA

2002
Mikuláš Medek, VVP AVU Praha
Avantgarda a tradice, AVČR

2001
Programy a manifesty českého umění VVP AVU, Praha

since 2002
Tranzit, iniciativa na podporu současného umění, vedoucí projekt

since 2000
Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová, odborný asistent

1998–2002
Galerie hlavního města Prahy, kurátor Sbírky malby,

1995–1998
Sbírka moderního a současného umění NG v Praze, asistent kurátora, kurátor Sbírky sochařství

1995
Ústav dějin umění AVČR, pomocný vědecký pracovník,

1993–1994
Sorosovo centrum současného umění, asistent

memberships:

since 2006
člen nákupní komise FRAC Lorraine, Metz, Francie

2002–2004
člen evaluační skupiny sbírky Erste Bank Group

since 2000
člen skupiny produkce aktivit současnosti

člen grantové komise Nadace pro současné umění

člen grantové komise MKČR

Monument transformace, fragment č. 5, kurátoři Zbyněk Baladrán, Vít Havránek, Pražské Biennále 3, Karlínská hala, Praha, 2007.

Monument to Transformation, fragment num. 4, Index, Foundation for Contemporary Art, Stockholm, Sweden, 2007.

“ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTUVXYZ “, kurátoři Thomas Botoux, Nataša Petrešin, Francois Piron, Société Anonyme, Le Plateau, Paříž, Francie, 2007.

tranzit - Auditorium, Stage, Backstage, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, 2006.

Já. Výstava ve třech dějstvích: Já, ber si to osobně, tranzit workshops Bratislava, 2005. Já, Futura Galerie Praha. I(ch). Perfomative ontology, Secession, Wien, 2006.

Stano Filko up 300.000 km/s, kurátoři Vít Havránek, Boris Ondreička, tranzit workshops, Bratislava, 2005.

Johanna Billing, Alan Currall, Display, Praha, 2005.

Definice každodennosti, kurátoři Karel Císař, Vít Havránek, Ján Mančuška, Pražské Biennále 2, Praha, 2005.

The Need to Document, kurátoři Vít Havránek Sabine Schaschl-Cooper, Bettina Steinbruege, Kunsthaus Baselland, Halle fuer Kunst Luenenburg, tranzit, 2005.

Czech Made, se skupinou pas, Display, Praha, 2004.

Jiří Kovanda - Nejsem proti, kurátoři Zbyněk Baladrán, Vít Havránek, Dům Pánů z Kunštátu, Brno, 2004.

Július Koller Kontakt, Kunstraum Muenchen, 2004.

Lanterna Magika, New technologies and science in Czech Art in the 20-th Century, kurátoři Camille Morineau, Vít Havránek, Espace Electra, Paris, France, 2002.

Glued Intimacy, se skupinou pas, Fair, Royal College of Art London, London, 2002.

Glued Intimacy, se skupinou pas, Galerie Jelení, Praha, 2002.

Otto Piene, The Zero Experience, Galerie hlavního města Prahy, Praha, 2002.

paspress, se skupinou pas, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2003.

Zbyněk Baldrán, Vít Havránek, Atlas Transformace, tranzit, 2009.

Vít Havránek (ed.), Autobiographies, Revolver, Secession, tranzit, 2006.

Vít Havránek, Ján Mančuška, Absent, JRP Ringier, tranzit, 2006.

Vít Havránek (ed.), Jiří Kovanda, Actions and installations, 2005-1976, JRP Ringier, tranzit, 2006.

Vít Havránek, Sabine Schaschl-Cooper, Bettina Steinbruege (ed.), The Need to Document, JRP Ringier, Zurich, 2005.

Camille Morineau, Vít Havránek (ed.), Lanterna Magika, Paris Musées, Kant, Paris 2002.

Vít Havránek (ed.), akce slovo pohyb prostor, Galerie hlavního města Prahy, Praha, 1999.

Vít Havránek (ed.), Slepená intimita, paspress, Praha, 2001.

Vít havránek, bj (ed.), bj, Praha 1999.

kolektivní díla,

příspěvky v redigovaných neperiodických sbornících (úplný bibliografický údaj, včetně celého stránkového rozsahu!)

Vít Havránek, "L´idée de l’œuvre d’YK en Europe de l’Est (1959-1971) en tant qu’idée“, Camille Morienau (ed.), Yves Klein : Corps, couleur, immatériel, Edition du Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2006.

Vít Havránek, „Notes on a Play about Eastern Art in the 1960s and 1970s – Without Costumes“, Nathalie Zonnenberg (ed.), Living Art on the Edge of Europe, Kroller-Mueller Museum, Kerber Verlag, 2006.

Vít Havránek, „Searching for former invisibility. Correspondance with Pawel Polit and Igor Zabel“, Vít Havránek (ed.), Jiří Kovanda, Actions and installations, 2005-1976, JRP ringier, tranzit, 2006.

Vít Havránek, Flight of a fly, on Saskia Holmkvist, iaspis, Stockholm, 2005.

Rozhovor s Václavem Ciglerem, Martina Pachmanová (ed.), 125 let VŠUP, Vysoká škola uměleckoprůmyslová, Praha, 2005.

Karel Císař, Vít Havránek, Ján Mančuška, “Definitions of Everyday”, Helena Kontová Gincarlo Politi, (ed.), Prague Biennale 2, catalogue, Flash Art, Milano, 2005.

Vít Havránek, “The Documentary – An Onthology of Forms in Transforming Countries”, Vít Havránek, Sabine Schaschl-Cooper, Bettina Steinbruege (ed.), The Need to Document, JRP Ringier, Zurich, 2005.

Vít Havránek, “Boudníkova léta šedesátá”, Zdeněk Primus (ed.), Vladimír Boudník, Gallery, Praha, 2005.

Vít Havránek, “Laterna Magika, Polyekran, Kinoautomat Media, Technology and Interaction in the Works of Set Designers Josef Svoboda, Alfréd Radok and Radúz Činčera, 1958-1967”, Jeffrey Shaw, Peter Weibel (ed.), Future of Cinema, ZKM, MIT Press, 2003.

Vít Havránek, „JK and a Slovak Situation“, Kathrin Rhomberg (ed.), Július Koller, Univerzalne Futurologické Operácie, Kolnischer Kunstverein, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther Koenig, Koeln, 2003.

Vít Havránek, „Zdeněk Sýkora et la problematique de l´art aléatoire“,Camille Morineau, Vít Havránek (ed.), Lanterna Magika, Paris Musées, Kant, Paris 2002.

Vít Havránek, „Laterna Magika, Polyekran, Kinouautomat: médias, technologie, interactivité dans les oeuvres de Josef Svoboda, Alfréd Radok et Radúz Činčera 1958-1967“, Camille Morineau, Vít Havránek (ed.), Lanterna Magika, Paris Musées, Kant, Paris 2002.

Vít Havránek, Jiří Skála, Hygiena, paspress, Praha, 2002.

Vít Havránek, „Warum Warum“, Jano Mančuška, I, Neue Kunstverein Graz, Divus, Praha 2002.

Vít Havránek, “Jan Mančuška”, Manifesta IV, catalogue of the exhibition, Hatje Cantz, Frankfurt am Main, 2002.

Mnemeg, Federico Díaz, mnemeg, Moravská Galerie v Brně, Brno, 2002.

Vít Havránek, “TV: situace, jejich okolnosti, Participy”, Tomáš Vaněk, Praha 2002.

Vít Havránek, “Měkký Petr”, Petr Babák, Moravská Galerie v Brně, Brno, 2002

Vít Havránek, “Virtuální život architektury”, Lenka Bydžovská, Roman Prahl (ed.), V mužském mozku sborník k sedmdesátým narozeninám Petra Wittlicha, Academia, Praha, 2002, p.173-183 .

Vít Havránek, “Stano Filko Architekt informačního věku”, Vít Havránek (ed.), akce slovo pohyb prostor, Galerie hlavního města Prahy, Praha, 1999.

Vít Havránek, “Tvořit Tvoření”, Vít Havránek (ed.), akce slovo pohyb prostor, Galerie hlavního města Prahy, Praha, 1999.

Vít Havránek, Jiří Zemánek, “Paradoxy Pešánkovy cesty k nové epoše”, Jiří Zemánek (ed.), Zdeněk Pešánek 1895-1965, Národní galerie v praze, Praha, 1998.

Vít Havránek, “Jiří Skála Manual de utilizar“, Idea, No. 24, 2006.

Vít Havránek, Ján Mančuška, “Subjective Genealogy”, 1+1+1, London, 2005

Vít havránek, “Jiří Kovanda”, Metropolis M, Num. 1, 2005.

Vít Havránek, Ján Mančuška, “Revolution im asynchronen Raum”, Springerin, Num. 1, 2004.

Vít Havránek, “Tomas Vanek Creative Routine”, Untitled, Number 30, Summer 2003.

Vít Havránek, “Stano Filko », Umělec, 3/2001.

Vít Havránek, “Prague l´annee neuf », Documents sur l´art, 1999.