Cena Jindřicha Chalupeckého

The documentary introduces the original personality of the greatest Czech art theorist of the 20th century Jindřich Chalupecký as well as the history of the Jindřich Chalupecký Association founded in 1990 after his death. The association presents annual awards in the theorist's name to young Czech artists up to the age of 35. In 2010, it celebrates the 20th anniversary of its existence, having introduced twenty award holders whose art careers are recorded and confronted in the documentary. The documentary also presents the accounts of Chalupecký's colleagues, members of the international jury as well as the co-founders of the Association - dramatist Václav Havel and artist Theodor Pištěk. In the form of interviews, memories, examples of the works of both award holders and award finalists, controversial artworks reacting directly to Chalupecký's personality, a presentation of confrontational perspectives of the current visual art as well as archive material, the documentary introduces the phenomenon of the contemporary art, which seems to lose the ability to communicate, revealing the reasons for the general mistrust of art. The documentary is accompanied by the quotations of Chalupecký's thoughts that are still relevant and selected so as to illustrate the themes of the samples and interviews presented in the documentary.