The Lobkowicz Collections Extends and Grows its Educational Programs in 2023
Throughout 2023, the Lobkowicz Collections will continue to expand, improve, and grow its rich selection of educational programs. These programs include workshops, hands-on activities, residential stays, internships, and much more.
The Junior Curator Challenge gives participating students significant practical experience in the field of curation. It has seen the participation of the Deutsche Schule Prague, International School of Prague, Sunny Canadian International School, and ZŠ Táborská.
At Nelahozeves Castle, we host the school programs Discovering the Lobkowicz Collections, Cabinet of Curiosities, and By the Bench There Stood an Infant: Erben and Dvořák’s The Noon Witch, all three of which allow students a closer look at some of the most fascinating objects in the Collections, as well as music and poetry. For the general public, we provide educational tours for both adults and children, including Private Spaces: A Noble Family at Home, and Children’s Tour: Discovering the Lobkowicz Collections, which also take place in this incredible Renaissance-era heritage site. We regularly update the training of our castle guides to ensure an overall inclusive, informative, and in-depth experience for all our visitors.
Our educational programs at the Lobkowicz Palace include Lobkowicz Collections Highlights, which provides a concise introduction to our work through some of the most famous items in our Collections housed at the Palace. Not long ago, we opened the exhibition Portrait in Music and an accompanying educational program that offers visitors an insight into the extensive history of the Lobkowicz family’s involvement with composers across the ages, including Ludwig van Beethoven and W. A. Mozart.
At Roudnice Castle, we have been working on improving the accessibility of our educational programs. Specifically, we have an enriched guided tour with an updated guide text that reflects recent research and offers more informative insights into the value and legacy of Roudnice Castle. We have also opened more historic rooms to the public, and upgraded our tour of the castle to include over 25 visual panels documenting its history.
Some of the educational initiatives that we are most proud of include our undergraduate Experiential Learning Programs. This year, we have already planned to host a one-month residential stay that will offer lectures and work with Collections’ objects for students from Vassar College and Boston College. We will also be working with undergraduates from the University of Colorado, Denver, during their more intensive one-week program. Finally, we will be continuing our already-successful cooperations with universities that we have worked with in the past, including the University of Kansas, Central Washington University, and others.
We are happy to report that our internship program is growing each year, attracting more and more applications as it continues. We will be continuing with an internship program for Wellesley College, which lasts 10 weeks and is now in its 8th year running. Additionally, we are currently choosing candidates from many other universities, including the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague; University of Granada; University of Rochester, New York; University of Savoie Mont Blanc, Chambéry; University of Vienna, and Yale College, New Haven.
Some of our educational programs have grown to become partnerships. We are excited to be continuing our collaboration with the Czech Philharmonic and their “Music to Schools” initiative, which brings exceptional quality music education to primary and secondary schools in the Czech Republic. In particular, we will continue our work with Velvary Primary School as part of the initiative. Our partnership with the Czech Chamber Music Academy (AKH – Akademie komorní hudby) will also continue this year, allowing a residential educational stay, one live concert, and one concert recording by the ensemble.
