Prague, June 10 (CTK) – The Culture Ministry has not yet received any request for permitting an exhibition of rare Prague Castle artifacts in Moscow in November, when President Milos Zeman wants to open their display during his visit to Russia, Culture Ministry spokeswoman Simona Cigankova has told CTK.
More than 100 exhibits are reportedly to be presented, mainly those from the collections of the Prague Castle, the seat of the Presidential Office.
Addressed by CTK, the Prague Castle Management (SPH) would not comment on the plan.
“The project is in the phase of preparations. We will provide concrete information after the preparation reaches its final phase,” SPH spokesman David Sebek told CTK.
Vladimir Kelnar, chancellor of the St Vitus Metropolitan Chapter seated in the Prague Castle complex, said a total of 250 exhibits will be displayed in Moscow, a crushing majority of them being provided by the SPH.
“We will provide about seven items, all relating to the Charles IV era,” he said on behalf of the Metropolitan Chapter and added that the contractual conditions prevent him from elaborating.
The artifacts have the status of national cultural heritage and their temporary export abroad needs the consent of their owners and also of the Culture Ministry, Cigankova said.
She said the deadline for the ministry to handle a request in this respect is 30 days, and even 60 days if the ministry asks the applicant to submit some additional documents.
The ministry has not registered any such request for the export of artifacts, nor has its foreign department assisted in preparing a Moscow visit so far, Cigankova said.
The SPH-organised Moscow exhibition is to reciprocate the display of artifacts from the Russian Romanov dynasty era at Prague Castle in 2011.
The author of the exhibition, curator of the Prague Castle collections Jaroslav Sojka, previously said the presented artifacts will include replicas of the Bohemian crown jewels and other items of high artistic and historical value, such as Romanesque architectonic elements, Gothic tiles, 11th-century clothes linked to the Premyslide Princess Ludmila and also Renaissance and Baroque tapestries.
The Czech organisers say they want the Moscow exhibition to be an invitation for Russians to visit Prague and an occasion for them to acquaint themselves with the history of Prague Castle still before making the trip.
