A warehouse of second-hand items material was opened in Žižkov which will have an ecological, environmental, and educational function.
The non-profit project was created with the support of the city district of Prague 3 and the municipality.
The Skutek association is behind the idea of creating art re use and the operator Jan Vincenec, the ArtMap association and the project coordinator, took care of the implementation.
Art re use functions in the premises as a “bank” of art material, which offers artists, students, non-profit projects and galleries material and instrumental background for creation, including “know-how” support and inspiration.
It will also help cultural institutions, companies, and art schools with a meaningful redistribution of used and currently unnecessary material, which they themselves can no longer store.
The basic benefit is to concentrate the efforts of individuals and institutions striving for responsible access to raw materials.
In the future, it will also offer workshops for the public and various educational activities focused on the topic of recycling.
“There is a huge demand for objects and materials that the warehouse of art material mediates for transportation, which proves that such a project belongs in the capital,” said Hana Třeštíková, Prague City Councilor for Culture and Tourism.
“I walked around the building for years, wondering what’s inside,” added Michal Vronský, representative of the Prague 3 district and chairman of the Committee for Education.
“It was previously a warehouse of ballot boxes, which is only needed once a year.”
He considers the creation of live art, in the practically unused building, the result of great synergy between the Prague 3 district, ArtMap and the municipality.
“Thanks to the great demand in the gallery environment and the popularity of the project, gallerists, artists, and curators began to address us with an offer of surplus material during the construction work,” explained Vincenec.
“We set up a classic e-shop for distribution, published the material immediately and it was gone within a week.
“Thus, a whole ton of material passed through the ceremonial opening – recycled mattresses, boards, beams, tiles, mesh and the like.”
Part of the warehouse function is the documentation, publication, and presentation of projects for which the material was donated.
The principle is simple. Anyone can choose from sorted items in the catalog on the reuse.artmap.cz website and put them in their basket.
All they then must do is fill in their contact details. Based on this order, an agreement is made via e-mail or telephone at the time of delivery.
The only condition is the return of things to cultural operations.
