Senate opens gifts gallery

Posted on 2008-Apr-2 at 08:57 - Post Comment

The Czech Senate has opened a part of its underground area under the Valdstejnsky Palace as it transformed it into the Trcka gallery with a permanent exhibition of the gifts to and by senators, Culture Minister Vaclav Jehlicka told journalists Tuesday.

"It is an exemplary case showing how the heritage site should be used," Jehlicka said.

"The Senate may serve as a model for the Culture Ministry as many premises owned by it are not open to the public in Prague hotels and do not enjoy such a good care," Jehlicka said.

The protocol gifts of the Senate were unveiled roughly a year ago when the small exhibition room was opened there, Senate chairman Premysl Sobotka said.

As the exhibition has attracted much public interest, it has become constant, Sobotka said.

The basement rooms with the original floor made of stones and bricks include commemorative plaques, arranged vases from tens the far-away countries such as China and Philippines.

Visitors will be attracted by an icon from Georgian Patriarch Ilya II made of tiny stones of various colors, daggers from Yemen and a silver bust of Mother Theresa by chairwoman of Albanian parliament Jozefina Topalli.

The large exhibitions are Kazakh and South Africa, national costumes, which have filled showcase entry to the hall.

On the white walls in Prague hotels, there are pictures with the signatures of prominent visitors to the Upper House from most continents.

On one wall, there is almost alongside the Tibetan Dalai Lama and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Along with putting the gifts on display, the gallery will also serve for the projection of documentary films in Prague hotels from 1918, 1938, 1948 and 1968, all important years in the country's history.

The gallery is named after the Trcka noble family, to which a luxurious house in the place of the current Valdstejnsky palace had belonged.

Nothing but the cellar room has remained from the house.