By the Head and by the Hands. The School of Arts and Crafts in Brno 1924–2024

How did modern art and design emerge in Brno? What were the methods used for arts-and-crafts education? And how did the former School of Arts and Crafts become today’s Secondary School of Art and Design and Higher Professional School in Brno? The present exhibition captures the century-long story of one Central European institution that combined local folkloric traditions with the experimental artistic avant-garde, servility to political establishments with daring intellectual freedom, and traditional craft skills with new media. In short, it presents the outcome of team research, published in greater detail in the book bearing the same title.

The exhibition is divided into six chronological sections. Each one is framed by specific historic events that often had a significant impact on the school and its activities. From the other side, the exhibition can also be understood as a report – although incomplete – on Brno’s artistic activity through the prism of a single secondary arts school.

The exhibition’s title By the Head and by the Hands refers to the unique traits of artistic work and artistic education. Specifically, it recalls several pedagogic approaches given attention in the exhibition. More generally, in turn, it implies the attempt to capture the ever-changing ideas of the social significance of art, or how someone can actually become an artist.

The School of Arts and Crafts (abbreviated as ŠUŘ), founded in 1924 by the Chamber of Commerce and Trade in Brno, was established as a distinctly modern alternative to the predominantly German-language institutions of a similar type that had existed in Moravia since the late 19th century. It also aimed to stand apart from Prague’s Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design (UMPRUM) and comparable schools in Austria and Germany. During both the First Republic and the 1940s under the Protectorate, the faculty at ŠUŘ intentionally focused on cultivating a modern, locally rooted cultural identity—fostering artistic production that would bridge international modernism with Moravian regional traditions.

Over the years, ŠUŘ has been home to many prominent educators, including Emanuel Hrbek, Josef Vydra, Petr Dillinger, Božena Rothmayerová-Horneková, Viktor Oppenheimer, Jaroslav Král, Karel Langer, Jan Lichtág, František Kalivoda, Zdeněk Rossmann, Antonín Jero, František Malý, Josef Vydra, Bohdan Lacina, Josef A. Šálek, Jindřich Svoboda, Karel Otto Hrubý, Marie Filippovová, Dalibor and Ivan Chatrný, Pavel Dias, Vladimír Židlický, Pavel Dvorský, Jan Rajlich, Emanuel Ranný, and Petr Veselý. The school also counts many well-known former students among its alumni, such as František Povolný, Bohumír Matal, Ester Krumbachová, Teodor Rotrekl, Inez Tuschnerová, Jiří Pelcl, Josef Daněk, Blahoslav Rozbořil, Václav Jirásek, Kateřina Šedá, Barbora Klímová, and many others. Today, the former ŠUŘ is officially known as the Secondary School of Art and Design, which also includes the Higher Vocational School of Brno.

The exhibition marking the school’s centenary builds on the results of art-historical research conducted by the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) in collaboration with invited experts in the field. It focuses on exploring newly uncovered or lesser-known aspects of the school’s history and present, drawing from the preserved works of its notable teachers and graduates as well as from ŠUŘ’s archival collections. These sources, which go beyond the grand narratives of art history, also shed light on the everyday workings of the school and its teaching methods—including textbooks, instructional aids, and meeting notes. Through detailed thematic digressions within their historical context, the exhibition opens up smaller, focused studies that contribute to a more nuanced and complete picture of the institution.

The research was partially funded by the Czech Ministry of Culture through the NAKI III program (Support for Applied Research in National and Cultural Identity), as part of the project Sites of Creativity: Arts and Crafts Education—Constructing Identity, Preserving the Past, Designing the Future (DH23P03OVV061). The grant recipient is the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague: mistatvorivosti.umprum.cz.

The main media partner of the exhibition is Czech Television.
The exhibition is held under the auspices of the Governor of the South Moravian Region Jan Grolich and the Mayor of the City of Brno Markéta Vaňková.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM, extended hours on Wednesdays until 8:00 PM.

Photo: ŠUŘ students in the drawing studio, 1960s, ŠUŘ Archive