Provider: Czech Academy of Sciences and Kraj Vysočina (Region Highlands); Regional Cooperation programme
Duration: 2024–2026
Recipients: Institute of Art History of the CAS (IAH CAS) and Polná Municipal Museum (PMM)
Principal Investigators: Petra Trnková (IAH CAS) a Alena Vyskočilová (PMM)
Project team members: Tereza Cíglerová, Kateřina Doležalová, Anežka Pithartová, Vlado Bohdan, Patrik Pařízek, and Lukáš Rosecký
The project aims to research, preserve and make accessible to the public the oldest photographs from the collection of the Polná Municipal Museum in close cooperation between the museum and the IAH CAS. The selected material, whose cultural and historical significance goes far beyond the borders of the region, consists of two interconnected parts, both culturally and historically, and materially: 1) a set of six unique daguerreotypes dating from the first decade of the history of photography, which are closely connected with the prominent local figure of the so-called Czech national revival, Antonín Pittner; 2) a convolute of seven large-format tableaux containing dozens of examples of visually and technologically divers material from the history and prehistory of photography. Different formats, materials, techniques, authors, types of images, mounting and framing are represented here, and individual parts show very different degrees and types of damage and deterioration.
The aim of the project is, on the one hand, research and interpretation of the material in the context of the history of photography and regional history, and on the other hand, technological research, conservation and digitization of the objects with the aim of their long-term preservation. The treated objects as well as the research results will be continuously made available to experts and the general public, primarily through two exhibitions at the PMM, an article in a peer-reviewed journal, and in the online space.
The project will significantly contribute to the preservation, evaluation and access to an extremely valuable and vulnerable series of historical photographs as an important part of our cultural heritage. Since the material is closely connected with the town of Polná and the Highlands Region in terms of authorship and provenance, it will also contribute to deepening public awareness of the cultural and social significance of the town in the mid-19th century and its rich history.
