Museum of Applied Arts in Brno and Moravian Gallery in Brno [Uměleckoprůmyslové muzeum / Moravská galerie v Brně]

The Brno Museum of Applied Arts was founded in 1873 with the aim of collecting examples of handicrafts and industrial production that could serve as a source of education and inspiration for local craftspeople and manufacturers, through exhibitions, courses, and lectures. After the First World War, applied arts museums across Europe were faced with an existential crisis and needed to redefine their purpose. In the case of the Brno museum, the focus was put on arts and crafts, and this emphasis shaped the museum’s collecting activities until the late 1980s.
A notable exception was the 1963 establishment of the Brno Biennial of Graphic Design, which has consistently and systematically presented current trends in visual culture around the world. It was only after 1990, with the change in the political and social situation, that the subject of design re-emerged as a focus alongside art. After 2015, the Moravian Gallery started to promote an approach to design as a creative activity closely linked to industrial production that can bring qualitative improvements to our everyday lives, providing innovative solutions and introducing sophisticated and imaginative approaches with every clever use of a technical discovery or material, and each satisfaction of a new need.