Meetfactory Gallery
The exhibition programme of the gallery MeetFactory focuses on contemporary art trends, emphasizing relationships between the local art scene and renowned foreign artists as well as confrontations between different generations. The exhibitions aim at going beyond the framework of individual media and art forms, they respond to current topics related to various philosophical and socio-political issues. MeetFactory aims at creating a natural, open space where the public can encounter live art.
MeetFactory has an International Artists-in-Residence programme which was established in 2007 and represents the largest studio programme in the Czech Republic. MeetFactory facilitates fifteen studios which host every year over thirty visual artists, curators, musicians, theatre directors and writers. We encourage the involvement of our artists in residence not only within the programme of MeetFactory (open studios, presentations, Public House, Museum Night etc.) and its exhibition spaces (exhibitions, performances, guided tours etc.)but also within the context of the Czech and European art scenes.
MeetFactory houses three exhibition spaces – three galleries – with a specific conception and dramaturgy:
Gallery MeetFactory (300 m2)
represents contemporary Czech and foreign art, provides space for challenging, demanding and sophisticated exhibitions bringing out local artists into international context and vice versa. Thanks to its great layout the gallery enables the artists to deal energetically with the given space, change its layout and character and that is why it is considered a unique space in the Czech art scene. The programme of the gallery focuses especially on group exhibitions on different themes and exhibitions displaying the work of artists-in-residence in dialogue with local artists and host curator´s projects.
Gallery Kostka (160 m2)
is known for solo exhibitions and projects of art couples or groups. The gallery is also known as a place for art experiments and site-specific installations which react to the untraditional typology of the place. It is designed especially for the next generation of artists and individual projects of artists-in-residence. Every year MeetFactory offers half of the exhibition time in this space to artists in the form of open calls.
The Wall Gallery (130 m2)
shows large-scale paintings, sculptures or installations on one of the side walls of the MeetFactory building. The aim of the gallery is to find balance between street art forms and projects less common for such type of space, ranging from conceptual realizations to forms of geometric abstraction.
- MeetFactory is an inter-genre art centre00:00:06.877
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- with music, theatre and gallery programs,00:00:10.126
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- there are also art studios or residences.00:00:17.530
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- The inter-genre conception of MeetFactory came into00:00:22.270
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- existence thanks to its founders,00:00:25.229
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- it was an initiative of David Černý00:00:28.284
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- but David Koller with Alice Nellis joined him,00:00:30.990
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- so their fields of activity affected the concept as well.00:00:34.612
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- The project started in 2002,00:00:40.318
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- the building used to be situated in Holešovice,00:00:43.092
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- nearby the Centre for Contemporary Art DOX,00:00:46.466
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- but it was the flood year and00:00:51.231
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- the original building was devastated,00:00:53.854
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- so a new place had to be found00:00:58.335
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- which took several years.00:01:00.949
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- The present building was00:01:08.850
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- originally a glass making compound,00:01:10.893
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- it was a ruin which needed00:01:14.841
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- an extensive reconstruction.00:01:17.567
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- Between 2006 and00:01:22.644
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- gradually started off and00:01:25.845
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- at the moment the building00:01:28.639
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- works at its full capacity.00:01:30.181
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- There are three gallery spaces,00:01:34.191
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- the main gallery of MeetFactory,00:01:36.174
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- the Kostka Gallery, which is smaller but monumental space00:01:38.913
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- and there is also a side frontage00:01:43.190
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- we call the Wall gallery which has00:01:45.561
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- its own exhibition program.00:01:48.219
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- There are fifteen studios, a well equipped music hall00:01:52.474
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- and a theatre hall which is00:01:58.493
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- rather a multi functional black box.00:02:00.149
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- So that's the current form.00:02:02.764
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- The main gallery of MeetFactory00:02:13.174
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- is three hundred square meters00:02:14.900
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- and I mainly aim for curator projects there,00:02:16.651
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- my own or I invite guest curators from abroad.00:02:21.251
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- There are usually collective exhibitions,00:02:26.653
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- I aim for thematic confrontations,00:02:29.265
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- confronting established and young artists or00:02:31.884
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- international and the Czech scene.00:02:35.329
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- Individual exhibitions take place in the Kostka Gallery,00:02:40.203
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- which is really big, although its ground plan is 10x10 meters00:02:45.273
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- it is almost ten meters high.00:02:50.264
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- The gallery program is devised that half of00:03:01.533
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- the exhibitions are final presentations of00:03:04.182
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- selected MeetFactory artists in residence,00:03:06.265
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- there are about thirty artists every year and00:03:08.964
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- six of them have their final00:03:12.014
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- exhibition in the Kostka gallery.00:03:13.766
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- These are prepared by my colleague,00:03:15.852
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- the curator Zuzana Jakalová.00:03:18.285
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- And the remaining six are annual00:03:20.528
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- open calls for a general art scene.00:03:23.208
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- The third space is the Wall Gallery00:03:39.679
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- which was originally a legal place for street art,00:03:42.548
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- although there also worked painters who00:03:49.860
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- don't engage in street art.00:03:52.699
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- The projects usually remained00:03:56.190
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- on the wall for a longer time.00:03:58.506
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- At the same time I find interesting to00:04:02.330
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- continue in the main gallery or00:04:04.794
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- the Kostka Gallery program there.00:04:07.020
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- For example Daniel Vlček and Miloš Vojtěchovský00:04:09.659
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- prepared their exhibition00:04:12.621
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- they placed a work of Jiří Valoch.00:04:17.293
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- It was a text which was a part of the exhibition.00:04:19.768
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- It was something you wouldn't expect00:04:23.138
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- on such type of surface or frontage.00:04:25.305
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- The Artists in Residence program00:04:37.021
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- is one of the main part of Meetfactory content00:04:39.365
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- but at the same time it follows00:04:42.838
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- very closely in its exhibition program00:04:45.524
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- Since it's full operation which started in 200700:04:48.767
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- we have been trying to invite the most of00:04:53.486
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- international artists with various attitudes00:04:57.265
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- and working with various materials.00:05:00.565
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- There are several lines within which00:05:07.311
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- the residency program works.00:05:09.888
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- One of them is an open call announced twice a year00:05:11.810
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- and it is open to every artist interested who00:05:15.384
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- sends in his portfolio and an application form.00:05:20.303
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- The second line is our co-operation00:05:27.343
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- with many partners from the Czech Republic,00:05:30.241
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- such as culture centers we collaborate with00:05:34.579
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- or our partners from abroad,00:05:38.405
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- such as Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin,00:05:45.694
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- EFA project space in New York,00:05:48.107
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- CEAAC in Strasbourg and others.00:05:51.419
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- They are our quality guarantors as00:05:53.765
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- they recommend us interesting artists they00:05:56.048
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- discovered or co-operated with and they find them00:05:59.167
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- interesting for Meetfactory.00:06:01.567
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- As for the connection with the exhibition program,00:06:06.264
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- it's an extremely important part00:06:08.677
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- because me and Karina aim for00:06:11.469
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- involving the residents in the exhibition life00:06:14.096
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- as much as possible.00:06:17.758
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- The artists Karina or our co-operating curator00:06:18.943
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- choose for the project co-operation00:06:22.155
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- are invited to the residency so that00:06:24.587
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- they can work on it right on the spot,00:06:28.226
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- they can concentrate and have time not only00:06:31.187
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- for themselves but also for working in a close co-operation.00:06:33.579
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- We don't want them just to bring00:06:39.179
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- their work here and then take it away.00:06:40.873
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- The curator line in MeetFactory00:06:49.229
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- has also its own history,00:06:51.644
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- the first curator was Zuzana Blochová,00:06:53.708
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- then Dušan Záhoranský came,00:06:55.862
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- so I am the third in the line.00:06:57.911
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- I guess from the very beginning00:07:03.047
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- there has been an interest in00:07:04.886
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- presenting artists from abroad and00:07:07.093
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- bringing something completely new to our country.00:07:09.313
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- Dušan dealt generously with the program and he00:07:14.583
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- managed to change exhibitions very often.00:07:18.231
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- He would make eleven exhibitions00:07:23.357
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- in the big gallery every year,00:07:25.424
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- he often presented artists in residence and00:07:28.065
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- at the same time he carried out00:07:31.785
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- his own and guest curator projects.00:07:31.973
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- I reduced the amount of the exhibitions00:07:35.391
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- in the big gallery,00:07:38.008
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- now there are five exhibitions every year00:07:39.819
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- as I am trying to achieve better finances,00:07:42.368
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- facilities and production for each exhibition.00:07:46.282
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- I also try to invite more curators from abroad00:07:51.944
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- and make exhibitions of established foreign artist00:07:56.042
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- if our budget, space and other possibilities allow it.00:08:01.388
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- As for my attitude to the exhibition production,00:08:17.789
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- it's always a combination of really intuitive work00:08:22.145
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- and often work with some text00:08:26.453
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- or literary and sometimes philosophical inspiration.00:08:28.911
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- I guess it's always very personal for me,00:08:34.493
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- I often pick themes such as "the way" for example00:08:36.688
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- or the exhibition Useless Cleaning00:08:40.223
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- was a kind of mental cleaning,00:08:42.550
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- a boundary between mental balance00:08:45.930
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- and disorder of mind.00:08:49.727
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- I regard exhibition as a certain process,00:08:56.864
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- it isn't like working in a museum where00:08:59.508
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- you work with finished artworks00:09:01.471
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- or collections and you interpret it somehow.00:09:04.195
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- You create something arising incessantly which00:09:06.655
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- has certain pivots but at the same time00:09:09.850
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- a week before the opening00:09:12.931
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- many things are being changed and fine-tuned.00:09:14.693
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- I'm interested in this moment00:09:17.927
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- of uncertainty when you don't know00:09:19.993
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- whether it comes out well or not.00:09:23.507
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- Meetfactory is a non-state non-profit organization,00:09:35.251
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- we operate mainly due to grants and00:09:39.006
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- partly to admission fees.00:09:41.645
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- The base is a four-year grant00:09:45.447
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- from the City of Prague which00:09:48.648
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- covers about forty percent of our budget.00:09:51.316
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- The remaining sixty percent00:09:58.347
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- are other grants, the Ministry of Culture00:10:00.077
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- and bilateral partnerships covering primarily00:10:03.691
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- residences and galleries,00:10:07.648
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- the Czech-German fund and different foreign foundations.00:10:09.678
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- We are always on the trot00:10:15.120
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- asking for grants and finances but00:10:16.591
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- thanks to that we are able to00:10:18.909
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- have our budget not generous,00:10:21.062
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- but at least relevant to everything we do,00:10:23.198
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- so the situation is fairly favorable.00:10:29.521
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- Also one of our colleagues00:10:33.554
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- working part-time deals just with00:10:35.140
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- commercial renting which00:10:37.606
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- is another income resource,00:10:39.536
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- there are also private sponsors and companies00:10:42.117
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- but this rather applies to00:10:45.765
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- discounts and material donations.00:10:47.939
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- I guess it's all characteristic of a non-profit organization.00:10:52.328