about — Czech Arts and Crafts

Czech Arts & Crafts

We are greatly honoured that Luxembourg has chosen Czechia as the guest country for the 2025 Biennale of Arts & Crafts.

This has evoked in us an increased sense of responsibility for presenting our selection, wherefore we have chosen an unconventional approach – to showcase the rich Czech craft tradition in the context of contemporary art. Indeed, excellent craftsmanship is not a separate discipline, but rather a natural part of the creative process.

The exhibition architecture, drawing only on the existing fund of the Slavonice craft workshop, where it was also produced, is in line with the theme of the biennial – unique nature. We assume responsibility and commit ourselves to limiting any unnecessary installation components. In the installation, the exhibited objects are sorted according to the natural materials: glass, wood, clay, metal and textiles.

The selection of exhibits across materials shows that the boundary between craft and contemporary art is getting increasingly blurred in today’s world.

Craft is no longer perceived solely as a technical skill; rather, it forms part of a broader creative gesture that combines tradition, innovation, and personal expression. Each exhibited object stems from thorough knowledge of the material, hundreds of hours of concentrated work and, at the same time, the courage to transcend disciplinary categories. In an age marked by speed and overproduction, a return to craftsmanship and environmentally friendly practices represents not only an aesthetic, but also an ethical choice.

Our selection is conceived as a reminder that ‘handicraft’ is not the opposite of ‘mindcraft’. On the contrary, it is precisely manual work, a feel for materials, and an awareness of their limits and possibilities that have become a tool for re-anchoring ourselves in the midst of an accelerated world.

– Denisa A. Šedivá & Romana Drdová, curators

The last Venice Biennale confirmed this trend – the Western world is returning to its roots, to its essence, seeking solace in traditional, swiftly disappearing, handmade craft skills and techniques. Here, you can enjoy works whose value increases with the time their authors have dedicated to their creation and their excellence – masterful craftsmanship and powerful artistic expression.

Eva & Petr Pavel
Czech presidential couple

We are delighted that the Czech Republic has become the guest of honor at the prestigious biennial arts and crafts exhibition "From the Hands of Masters" in Luxembourg. The idea originated from our meeting with the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Luxembourg last spring, and now it has become a reality, which makes us very happy. Thanks to the exhibition, visitors from all over the world can discover what it means to have "golden Czech hands."

We wish you an inspiring experience.

Jana Tomas Sedláčková

Head of Non-Profit Projects, PPF Group
Trustee, PPF Foundation

We at PPF Foundation have been supporting Czech talents for six years, consistently creating conditions for their growth and opening doors for them to present their work abroad. We decided to support the participation of Czech arts and crafts masters at De Mains De Maîtres Biennale because we perceive it is a unique opportunity to showcase the rich and original Czech creative skills in an international context. The Biennial is a prestigious platform highlighting the excellent craftsmanship with an overlap into arts; indeed, this is precisely a field where the Czech Republic demonstrates a robust tradition as well as current top quality. The presentation of several dozen Czech artists in Luxembourg will help not only to raise greater awareness of Czech culture abroad, but also to establish international collaborations and foster new contacts.

Martin Baxa

Mininister of Culture of the Czech Republic

I appreciate the invitation of the Czech Republic to the Fine Contemporary Craft Biennale “De Mains De Maîtres” as a great honour. Indeed, apart from the opportunity to showcase our traditional artistic crafts as a comprehensive whole, the final selection of artists allows us to present craftsmanship from a slightly different perspective. Not as a craft that serves the needs of artists and designers, but rather in the sense of craft as a field of art in its own right thanks to its excellence, artistic vision, and transcendence.

At what point does a craftsman turn into an artist? Our selection of forty artists shows that they are indeed one and the same person. These are those who create objects with their own hands and skilfully combine traditional crafts with innovative, environmentally friendly production processes, as emphasized by the theme of this year’s biennial – “unique nature” – on one hand, with the highest aesthetic standards and artistic vision, on the other hand. In other words, these creators combine artistic value, excellence in craftsmanship, and the subtle finesse of the material.

The exhibition is broken down into sections based on the source materials – glass, wood, metal, textiles, and clay. The installation was produced in a craft workshop in Slavonice using only existing materials to ensure that it is environmentally friendly and reusable.

The showcased objects are complemented with the products of the association Krásná práce [Beautiful Work], which promotes Czech crafts and folk art and gives them a contemporary look. Its mission is to introduce art and design students to the dying crafts, which the students learn and in turn bring a contemporary touch to their works. In the current fast-paced world, returning to sustainable, ecological, and local crafts and abandoning overconsumption is a responsible path of development.

You can thus enjoy the excellence of our master craftsmen, drawing on a long and rich tradition and presenting contemporary artistic approaches. I am very pleased that the Ministry of Culture has supported this presentation.

Curators of the project

Denisa A. Šedivá

Arts manager, author, and curator Denisa A. Šedivá (1978) lived in Belgium for 10 years, where she worked in cultural diplomacy and promoted Czech art and design. She wrote a book about Czech cultural identity called ABCZ aneb H jako Havel (ABCZ or H as in Havel). After returning to Czechia, she became the curator and manager of the KŘEHKÝ collectible design and art brand, for which she organizes the annual KŘEHKÝ MIKULOV art design festival and helps artists establish themselves abroad.

Romana Drdová

Romana Drdová (1987) is an artist and curator based in Prague, whose work includes installations, performance, design, and material experimentation. Her practice explores questions of identity, embodiment, and transformation, often using costumes, objects, and performative strategies to negotiate the borderline between the inner and outer self. In addition to her artistic work, she focuses on interdisciplinary approaches combining art, design, and critical theory. She currently runs THE DESIGN gallery in Prague, where she curates exhibitions at the intersection of contemporary art and design.

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Artscrafts team

Curators: Denisa A. Šedivá, Romana Drdová

Project manager: Denisa A. Šedivá

Project adviser: Petr Hájek, (The Chemistry Gallery), Lucie Drdová (Drdova Gallery)

Scenography: Josef Tomšej, Jiří Žid & Martina Leiblová, Petr Pelech, Kryštof Otto Fučík and Michal Homolka (students of the Faculty of Arts and Architecture – Technical University of Liberec) & Slavonice Workshop

Production: Johanka Pošová (The Chemistry Gallery)

Illustrations: Maria Makeeva

Graphic design: Eva Rampich, Anna Vašičková

Project coordination and Communication: Kristýna Halounová, Eva Petráková & Czech Centre Brussels team Copy editing: Alžběta Soperová Web design: Kristýna Šťastová, Kristián Toman With heartfelt thanks to H. E. Barbara Karpetová, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Luxembourg, and her team, as well as Iva Mrázková, Czech Honorary Consul in Luxembourg, and Jean-Marc Dimanche, De Mains de Maîtres Biennial Curator and participating galleries: The Design, The Chemistry Gallery, Galerie Kuzebauch, Křehký and QUBUS.

Photography: Hynek Alt, Ondřej Gália, Kristina Hrabětová, Salim Issa, Michaela Karásek Čejková, Viktor Kopasz, Jaroslav Kvíz, František Nikl, Ondřej Přibyl, Gabriel Urbánek and the author’s archives.

Project coordination and Communication: Kristýna Halounová, Eva Petráková & Czech Centre Brussels team

Copy editing: Alžběta Soperová

Web design: Kristýna Šťastová, Kristián Toman

With heartfelt thanks to H. E. Barbara Karpetová, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Luxembourg, and her team, as well as Iva Mrázková, Czech Honorary Consul in Luxembourg, and Jean-Marc Dimanche, De Mains de Maîtres Biennial Curator and participating galleries: The Design, The Chemistry Gallery, Galerie Kuzebauch, Křehký and QUBUS.