About the Collaboration
In collaboration with the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM), we invited a new generation of creators to explore our collections up close. During the 2024/2025 academic year, we launched partnerships with two studios: Textile and Fashion. We and the young authors shared the same ambition to show that history can speak to the present when someone is willing to listen.
Students spent time at the Lobkowicz Palace and at Nelahozeves Castle. They gained access to exceptional materials, studied Central European material culture, the story of the Lobkowicz family, and traditional craft techniques that fill our exhibitions. They then transformed their impressions and ideas into original works where traditional craft meets modern technology and personal reflection.
What emerged are projects that go beyond design. They offer new ways of looking at history, explore identity, and show that cultural heritage still has the power to spark ideas and emotion.
Dita Baker, Director of the Lobkowicz Collections, summed up our successful collaboration in these words:
“Working with UMPRUM on the occasion of the school’s 140th anniversary was a natural fit for the Lobkowicz Collections. The theme ‘The Eternity of the Present’ captures our mission to bring seven centuries of art into a living dialogue with today. The encounter between the Fashion Design and Textile studios and the original works in our collections allowed students to rediscover distant history, myth, and the value of human skill and craftsmanship, then translate them into a contemporary form inspired by the neocraft approach, meaning a fresh interpretation of time tested craft techniques. The results are designs that honor tradition, innovate specific textile methods, and show that timeless stories can inspire relevant work for today’s society.”
