Czech Design Week, featuring a selection of the youngest generation of designers and artists, returns to the Clam-Gallas Palace.

The New Generation exhibition has gradually established itself as one of the key program components of Czech Design Week. It provides a platform for artists who are just entering the scene, but whose work already hints at the future development of Czech and Slovak design and art. The selection of exhibitors was prepared by curators from two distinct areas: for art, Anna Pulkertová, curator, contemporary art expert, and founder of Art Part Club – a private club for both emerging and advanced art lovers, offering access to education, consulting, art events, studio visits, and the unique opportunity for fractional art ownership; and for design, Lukáš Pipek, art director of the Czech Design Week festival and the Czech Design Award.

What defines the new generation of today's most interesting contemporary artists? They view the world from diverse perspectives, full of various shades and forms. They are not afraid of experimentation, and no material or technique is taboo for them. They are inspired by nature, but also by humanity and its stories. In Lucie Pouchová's paintings, you often find solitary figures with pets that substitute for the absence of human relationships. The body in Laura Limbourg's paintings reveals its vulnerability and fear of nightmares. Ester Parasková, in turn, uncovers the complexities of this world. Beneath layers of color, weapons, elements of children's figures, shoe soles, or unsettling inscriptions shine through. 

References to nature or heroic tales can be found in Filip Dvořák's canvases, in the form of carved wooden implementations or pieces of fabric and various other materials. The boundaries between sculpture, object, and painting blur. Kateřina Šťastná gives form and body to breath. Her sculptures move through space or appear on canvases as embroidered polymorphic figures made of beads. The fascination with the memory of various materials is also central to the work of Magdalena Roztočilová, which oscillates between figuration, abstraction, and surreal dreaming. 

“The new generation of contemporary artists is both contemplative and playful; they are not afraid to forge their own path, find new solutions, experiment, and not close their eyes to the world, but rather look at it with curious, inquisitive eyes that go far beyond conventional ways of thinking. Embark beyond the horizon with them through the New Generation exhibition,” says Anna Pulkertová, curator of the art section of the exhibition.

The design section will feature artists who are pushing the boundaries of working with both traditional and new materials. Sebastian Komáček experiments with steel and ice, Jan Čihák focuses on transforming glass waste, Adéla Růžičková and Karolína Kučerová connect ceramics with glass and the psychology of materials, while Marek Hanák and Silvia Sukopová explore the relationship between craftsmanship and digital technologies.

Building on the theme of form and interaction are, for example, Jakub Sojka with kinetic objects, Filip Hrubý with a collection of vases based on fragmentation, Kryštof Vícha using the potter's wheel as a sculptural tool, and Matyáš Barák with his new Twisted light lamp. A distinctive approach is also represented by Nao Studio, Kristýna Švábenská, Andrej Ilič, and the Monotropa collective, whose projects combine natural inspirations, functionality, and a unique artistic signature.

“In the design section of New Generation, we focus on themes that are currently shaping the field – sustainability, material experimentation, and the search for new forms of interaction. The selected artists demonstrate that even the youngest generation of designers is offering solutions that are aesthetically compelling while also responding to current social and technological challenges,” says Lukáš Pipek, curator of the exhibition's design section.

The twelfth annual Czech Design Week festival will take place from September 11th to 14th, 2025, not only at the Clam-Gallas Palace but also at Galerie Mánes, Kavárna Slavia, and selected design stores in the center of Prague. At the Clam-Gallas Palace, the New Generation exhibition will be accompanied by solo exhibitions from designer František Jungvirt and artists Pavlína Šváchová, Jiří Bartoš, and Mikuláš Juráček as part of the festival program. The complete program and list of exhibitors are available on the festival website: www.czechdesignweek.com. 

The New Generation exhibition was created in collaboration with Czech Design Week, Anna Pulkertová, and Art Part Club – a private club for both emerging and advanced art lovers, offering access to education, consulting, art events, studio visits, and the unique opportunity for fractional art ownership. This particularly applies to art from the new generation of artists who are worth paying attention to. Get inspired. Art Part Club website: https://www.artpart.club/