Address
Kapucínské nám. 8
659 37 Brno
tel.: +420 533 435 256
e-mail: divadelni@mzm.cz
Postal Address
Zelný trh 6
659 37 Brno
PhDr. Jaroslav Blecha - scholar and researcher focusing on research, documentation and evaluation of the transformations of Czech puppet theatre (puppeteer families, itinerant puppet theatre, amateur family theatre and club puppet theatre).
tel.: +420 533 435 256
mob.: +420 721 117 413
e-mail: jblecha@mzm.cz
Staff
- doc. Mgr. Andrea Jochmanová, Ph.D. - curator focusing on research and documentation of professional drama theatre of the 18th-20th centuries in the Czech lands, respectively in Moravia, concentrating on manifestations related to folk baroque theatre, Czech theatre avant-garde and modernism.
tel.: +420 533 435 257, e-mail: ajochmanova@mzm.cz - Mgr. Hana Ocetková - curator focusing on research and documentation of professional musical theatre and ballet of the 19th-20th centuries in the Czech Republic and Moravia in particular.
tel.: +420 533 435 256, e-mail: hocetkova@mzm.cz - Helena Šedá - restorer-conservator specializing in textiles.
tel.: +420 533 435 258, e-mail: hseda@mzm.cz - Mgr. Olga Piperová Taušová, DiS. - restorer-conservator focusing on wood, paper, metal.
tel.: +420 533 435 258, e-mail: opiperova@mzm.cz
Characteristics
The Theatre History Department of the Moravian Museum in Brno has existed since 1955. It manages a collection of theatrical works (mostly Moravian), which was originally created by the Czech National Theatre Company in Brno in 1881. The collection is built and managed systematically, supplemented by its own acquisition activities. The greater part of the collection comes from the 19th and 20th centuries. A small number of items date back to the 18th century (theatre playbills). At present, the department manages more than 94,000 collection items and a specialised library of 16,000 titles.
From April 2022, the department presents a part of its collection in a long-term exhibition called Art of Puppetry, in which it presents traditional Czech puppetry. The exhibition in the Palác šlechtičen Palace on Kobližná Street offers typical puppets, stage sets and decorations, theatres and other documents in the context of their theatrical function and contemporary milieu.
- Research, documentation and evaluation of theatre history, or theatre culture in Moravia, i.e. monitoring and documentation of contemporary professional (partly also amateur) theatre of all types and genres. Furthermore, research, study and documentation of historical theatrical phenomena, including foreign theatre cultures in our territory which influenced the developmental tendencies of Czech theatre.
- Sub-specific projects, including grant projects, are based on specific conditions, i.e. the staffing of curatorial positions (currently 3 curators, 2.5 full-time positions).
The structure of the collection is basically based on the traditional concept of theatre documentation. It is based on the accompanying documents of productions, i.e. primary or authentic documents of individual components of productions and various other authentic or accompanying documents of theatre as a phenomenon. From this point of view, the theatre collection is systematised, documenting, for example, the development and transformation of scenography, dramaturgy, etc.
The current concept of the collection-building activity aims at a more systematic fulfilment of the thesaurus of the sub-collection. This is defined by two essential aspects - on the one hand, the permanent documentation of contemporary theatre, and on the other, the finding, preservation and evaluation of older sources with an emphasis on the possibility of reconstructing theatrical staging, i.e. everything related to theatre and staging itself. Besides this preference, however, the thesaurus claims to document theatre as a phenomenon, i.e. all social, political, administrative, organizational and other aspects which represent or have represented any developmental tendencies in the theatre history in the Czech territory.
- Expansion and systematization of the collection of Moravian theatralia, i.e. finding, selecting, acquiring and documenting representative evidence of the phenomenon under study.
- Registration and cataloguing of collection objects.
- Digitalization of collection objects (pictorial, audiovisual).
- Conservation and restoration of collection objects.
- Making replicas of collection objects (especially for presentation purposes).
- Research room - on weekdays (8 am - 6 pm) by prior telephone or correspondence agreement.
- Specialist theatre library - open to the public, borrowing dates by prior agreement by phone: +420 533 435 259, e-mail: vvalentova@mzm.cz. Loans of rarer publications and periodicals are only allowed in presential form.
- Conception and realization of Museum’s own (domestic and foreign) exhibitions.
- Conception and implementation of accompanying programmes for exhibitions (creative workshops, guided tours...).
- Occasional lectures, seminars, discussions, media programmes.
- Occasional cooperation with radio, television and film.
- Lending of collection objects for study and presentation purposes.
- Expert appraisals of objects, expert appraisals of grants and theatre projects, determination and expertise of theatre objects and sets of objects for purchase for public collections, for export abroad and for restoration, consultations, services to researchers.
- Cooperation with universities, museum and theatre departments, etc.
- Membership and activities in national and international theatre societies and institutions (SIBMAS, The Theatre Research Society, Association of Professional Puppeteers, Czech Centre of UNIMA, UNIMA International, etc.)
