MUSEUM OF VALUES - PICTURE REPORT ON SLOVAKIA

Opening: 16 June 2026, 18.00
Curators: Alexandra Kusá, Ondřej Horák
Duration of the exhibition: 17 June 2026 - 31 January 2027
Alžbetina 22, Košice

Last year, the project 'Museum of Values' was created to search for a visual code, the essence of what is 'Slovak', some common base on which we can agree, to find what is essentially Slovak in the sense of the code of visual communication, and with which everyone who grew up here has come into contact. Today, when we are bombarded with superficial nationalism, we were interested in how it works in the history of our paintings and whether we can show the Slovak story without pathos, both historically and philosophically. After all, the history of Slovak paintings does not have to be a museum exhibit, but a living dialogue in which we ask: what values did we have and what values do we pretend to have? Do we all have the same ones? That is why, instead of the classical narrative about 'great history' and documents, we focused on specific collections, commented clichés, but also exhibits strengthening healthy pride and patriotism. The exhibition in Banská Bystrica showed that this works, so we are moving on and adding 'new values'. The project for the East Slovak Gallery will be different, as it is based on their collections and their experience of what it means to be Slovak. We already know that Košice enriches our story with the parameters of the city and the city's culture, with other partner ethnicities, or that for Košiceans the Tatra Mountains are not only a national symbol, but also a concrete place of contemplation and looking. In Košice, we will also strengthen the contemporary art line, which VSG has systematically developed in recent years thanks to a sophisticated acquisition policy. Once again we are preparing a combination of paintings, photographs, contemporary multimedia installations, all wrapped in an attractive typographic environment. Thanks to the gallery collection, the image of Slovakia is expanded and the result is the history of Slovakia as a layered and multi-significant story.

Once again, the exhibition includes an interactive experiential exhibition, The History of Slovakia, with Professor Škreček, the popular figure who ate 'all the wisdom in the world', who will tell the story of the history of the Slovak nation to a new audience. This wise but somewhat wry rodent, who sometimes dares to ask an awkward question, other times offers a quiz or a joke, and always reminds us that history can be taken with a grain of salt. VSG thus transforms the space on Alžbetina Street into a place where one does not just go to look at the showcases, but also to think and leave one's own legacy.

The Museum of Values works with works by artists such as M. A. Bazovský, Martin Benka, Ľudovít Fulla, Martin Martinček, as well as with works by artists important for Košice with an international reach, such as Konštatín Bauer, Anton Jasusch, Ján Vasilko, Július Jakoby, or Ján Mathé.Also included in this collection are again works by Matej Fabian and Ivana Šáteková, who is behind the monumental installation realized directly for the exhibition.

Animation.

Graphic identity.

Samuel Antol, Bronislav Musil,

Cultural Concepts:

Production ̶ Mária Bohumelová, Gabriela Hamalová

Programs and PR ̶ Bohdana Hromádková

Thanks for financial support to our partners: the Tatra Banka Foundation, Zenith Media, Ernst&Young.