Archtecture and Museum Route Austria–Czech Republic
Since 2006, the MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art and the MG – Moravian Gallery in Brno have
been running the Josef Hoffmann Museum (JHM) in Brtnice/CZ as a joint branch. It was after 1907 that Josef Hoffmann remodeled the building in the style of Viennese modernism, a theme on which it has been
used to host regular exhibitions since 2005. In 2011, following a lengthy restoration project, the MG reopened Villa Jurkovič
(built in 1906 after plans by Dušan Jurkovič). Other milestones of international architecture, as well, such as
the villa built for Fritz Tugendhat in Brno (built in 1929/30 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) have likewise been made accessible
following their renovation.
The project Traces seeks to develop a transnational cultural route between Vienna and Brno; to use the institutions’
existing cooperation for the development of the broader program theme; to prepare the new cultural route’s core content
via exhibitions, lectures and other didactic measures; and to renew awareness of the greater Moravia-Lower Austria-Vienna
region’s role as a cradle of modernism. Tourism-related concerns have been integrated into the project from the very
beginning, as have marketing research, best practice and PR/advertising. This project is devised in a process-oriented manner
(marketing research – communication concept – communication plan) and makes a distinction between local publicity
for exhibitions and the broad-based informational campaign that will serve as preparation for nomination as a European cultural
route while also providing a significant boost to tourism in the Moravia-Lower Austria-Vienna region.
Since 2005, the house in Brtnice, Czech Republic where Josef Hoffmann was born has been playing host to temporary exhibitions
featuring themes related to Hoffman and his circle with the aim of keeping the life and work of this pioneering Austrian architect
alive in the public consciousness.
