Foundation & Center for Contemporary Art (F&CCA)

CCA LABoratory

(Prague, Czech Republic)

The Foundation and Center for Contemporary Art - Prague (F&CCA-Prague) was founded in 1992 as part of a larger network of non-profit organizations established by the New York philanthropist George Soros. The former Soros Center for Contemporary Art was transformed into the F&CCA-Prague in 1998 after the Soros Foundation decided to reduce the funding it granted to the 20 Soros Centres in Eastern Europe.

Now independent, the F&CCA-Prague is working to establish strong educational, residency and exhibition programs to reflect the contemporary-art community in the Czech Republic. Among recent projects, the centre has participated in Café 9 , an initiative linking seven of the nine European Cultural Capitals 2000 to the Internet. Cafés were set up where people could use the Internet to communicate with one another and take part in projects organized by all seven cities.

The F&CCA-Prague has also assisted a public art project called The Night-Watchman (fall 2000) by artist Milan Cais. The project consists of a series of computer-controlled light projections. Installed atop a domed roof of a building in central Prague, the projections act as eyes overlooking the city.

The LABoratory for New Media Art, which F&CCA-Prague set up in 1998, was designed to facilitate communication between artists and interactive software and hardware designers. The LAB provides Czech artists working on media and multidisciplinary projects with free access to technologies and technical assistance. Software and hardware have been purchased and upgraded thanks to support from the Daniel Langlois Foundation. Several projects have already sprung from work in the LAB, and exhibitions of these new media works are planned.

In addition to the LAB, CCA-Prague also houses a library for contemporary art and a gallery space (the Jeleni Gallery). Finally, the centre is cultivating many international partnerships to further develop its role in the new media art community.