About the Museum
Located in the stunning and historic Bohemian National Hall, the Czech Center serves as a link between the current culture of the Czech Republic and the former ethnically Bohemian neighborhoods of Yorkville. The center offers a variety of opportunities to engage with Czech Culture, including a small gallery space. The gallery is only a small part of the vast cultural offerings at the Czech Institute, but the exhibitions are a perfect supplement to the concerts, films, and lectures that bring you here.
What You Will See
The center regularly rotates exhibitions feature works by contemporary Czech artists. Given its history and location, the current creative output of the small country is immense, but otherwise underrepresented in the United States. Recent exhibitions have featuring young photographers, a celebration of the Velvet Revolution that toppled communism, and a video installation comparing cities to ant colonies. It is hard to predict what you will see next, but it is easy to say you are unlikely to see its like anywhere but the Czech Center.
Why You Should Go
New York is blessed to have countries large and small willing to maintain a cultural office in the city. In a day, you can visit exhibitions by contemporary artists previously only accessible to citizens of their native countries. But with so many cultures vying for attention, it can be hard to justify exploring say, Ukraine over Austria, or Sweden over Korea. However you choose to make your priority list, keep the Czech Center at the top. Their program offerings and exhibitions are consistently amont the best.
