Welcome to the online catalogue of the Museum of Czech Literature, which you can visit in Prague's Bubenec, at 22/44 Pelléova Street, where the Memorial of National Literature has moved from Strahov Monastery. Ten thematically diverse exhibitions are prepared for visitors, based on the archives and collections of the institution; the eleventh hall is dedicated to temporary exhibitions.

The World as Open Book

We never know what state of mind gripped or released the person who decided to read.
Vladimír Holan

What do we really exhibit when exhibiting ‘literature’? While the manuscripts, printed materials, visual artefacts and archival materials mirror the personalities of the authors, the work itself remains hidden. In this exhibition, we present the rich and diverse collection of the Museum of Literature, complemented by original audio-visual material. We do so from the current perspective, and therefore with limited knowledge. Our concept follows no specific narrative line, highlighting instead the openness and variability of the relationships, interactions, and transferences which occur in literature.

The separately designed individual spaces of the exhibition follow the floor plan of the building; in the prosody of small and large rooms, broader topics are alternated with monographically focused presentations of a single author or literary work. Rotating exhibits and thematic changes during the exhibition run are a reminder of impermanence, which is at the core of our concept.

The biblical message about the world being created by words has resonated in literature since the very beginning. It is also through language that writers create a world that is transformed through reading, both by the workings of individual imagination, and with each new generation. In its unique way, the act of reading - which the exhibition invites us to do – makes the world present and opens it up. At the same time, it inspires us to seek a deeper knowledge of ourselves and a better understanding of other people.

Alena Petruželková