The House of Art in České Budějovice, which is the residence of The Gallery of Contemporary Art, has been managed by The Joint-Stock Company Municipal Houses of Culture České Budějovice, which acquired the house for a long-term lease from the town, since 1997.
Since 1998, the dramaturgy of this gallery has been focused, under the management of the curator Michal Škoda, on contemporary visual arts and architecture. Every year, the gallery prepares ten exhibitions of the most interesting Czech artists but also important artists from abroad. Most of these are thus presented for the first time not only in this country but in Eastern Europe in general. However, contrary to expectations, the "address of their destination" isn't Prague, but České Budějovice. Space is given to interesting young artists, too.
In the course of the past years, it was possible to see the gallery gradually heading towards the tendencies of minimalism, geometric or conceptual art and their overlapping. Photography finds its place here, too, and examples from the work by contemporary architects are presented here every year. This is not a commercial or collection gallery, and therefore The House of Art may be described as what is known abroad as the "kunsthalle".
In České Budějovice they succeeded in establishing an important, prestigious gallery with an international renown that is the only one in the Czech Republic to prepare a programme with such a high number of quality exhibitions of foreign artists every year. This is also reflected in the fact that České Budějovice appears in the international awareness not only as a town where world-famous beer is produced, but also where something notable in the field of culture can be found.
Owing to systematic work, nowadays The House of Art ranks among the best places in the field of culture that can be visited in the Czech Republic. The House of Art is found on the main square of České Budějovice. The exhibitions are presented in five rooms on the first floor, covering the total area of 150 m2. It is open daily: 10:00 - 13:00 and 13:30 - 18:00, except mondays.
