Farewell to Milan Knížák

In the Big Ceremonial Hall of the Crematorium Strašnice in Prague, the last farewell to Prof. Milan Knížák, Dr. A., with state honors, took place on Friday, August 7. The artist, musician, and teacher was accompanied on his last journey by three honorary salutes and the national anthem. Family, former students, the public, artists, and politicians were present.

Milan Knížák died on July 26 at the age of 86. He was one of the artists who significantly influenced the Czechoslovak and Czech art scenes. He was at the birth of the Czech underground and at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s he was known as the founder of the Aktual Club and the beat group of the same name. He was arrested and repeatedly imprisoned for his activities during normalization. He was also a supporter of the international art movement Fluxus. He exhibited in the Czech Republic, Europe, the USA, Japan, Canada and Australia, and his work is represented, among others, in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in Britain and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

After the change of regime, Milan Knížák became the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, which he led from 1990 to January 1997. He brought new impulses to the academy, opened it to the world and for a quarter of a century he led the Intermedia Studio that he founded. From 1999 to 2011, he also led the National Gallery. Milan Knížák was also the author of poems and published dozens of books, catalogues and music. In 2010, he was awarded the Medal of Merit.

We were honored to be part of this moment.