ARTSEMESTR Winter 2023

Artsemestr, a few days when the Academy of Arts, Architecture, and Design in Prague will be completely transformed. The studios where classes normally take place, classrooms, and various other corners will become one huge exhibition space. It is regularly possible to see the results of semester projects and thesis assignments of UMPRUM students.

Artsemester is one of the school's most sought-after and well-attended exhibitions. It regularly features a plethora of work on a variety of themes. "Its aim is not only to symbolically close the past semester, but also to show how well students can cope with the assigned topics, collaborate with each other and with companies, and respond to current trends or events in their environment. It is also a test of their independence in preparation and implementation", says Vice-Rector Radek Sidun.

Artsemester Winter 2023 will offer results from a total of 25 studios and the new studio Planet B dealing with environmental issues and sustainability. Works from the fields of architecture, fine and applied arts, design, and graphic arts will be on display. For example, a project from the Architecture III Studio deals with machine imagination and tries to use artificial intelligence to create buildings. The Industrial Design Studio continues its interest in the design of means of transport and this time, in collaboration with Škoda Group, has focused on an autonomous metro for Prague. A practical assignment that prepares students for the future was chosen by the Fashion and Footwear Design Studio, where the task was to create their own brand with sustainability in mind and to develop it by including their own visual identity and pricing. Students from the Graphic Design and Visual Communication Studio were given the task to prepare and graphically design their own cookbooks, by sharing personal and family recipes. The studios of the Department of Fine Arts traditionally leave room for their creative freedom and do not limit themselves to any themes.

The Artsemestr exhibition will be open to the public from Friday, January 27th to Wednesday, February 1st. All works will be on view in the main, historic building on nám. Jana Palacha. The only exception is the Planet B exhibition, which will open to the public in the UMPRUM Technology Centre on Mikulandská Street.

Studios and themes

Studio of Architecture I: SERVICES SHOPS MARKETS for Prague Na Knížecí - model 1:200.
Studio of Architecture II: The Utopian Impulse: From the Planet to Prague – a focus on the production of ideas and work aimed at developing new forms of living that seek to enable a freer and fairer society // final project: Future Architectures - laboratory of utopias - visualization of semester utopian projects through film.
Studio of Architecture III: Machine imagination - reflection on new tools for creating artificial intelligence images based on given texts. Exploring this potential for architectural design // final project: transformation of AI visual outputs into physical architectural models.
Studio of Architecture IV: ICONS - searching for unfinished projects in the Czech Republic across history - designing the unfinished, strengthening the dialogue with history. / 1st-year students - Transformations in housing - forms of housing in the 20th and 21st centuries. Potential for redevelopment and re-use of houses.
Studio of Industrial Design: 2nd - 5th-year students - Autonomous subway for Prague, cooperation with Škoda Group; tray for 6 beers for brewery Matuška / 1st-year - stylization of nature and transforming its shape into a real product.
Studio of Furniture and Interior Design: Library - solitaire furniture - prototypes 1:1.
Studio of Product Design: The role of (electronic) music in human development. MIDI controller WIP // final project: acoustic musical instrument/object.
Studio of Fine Arts I (Sculpture): Vulnerability // final project: free topic.
Studio of Fine Arts II (Painting): Open assignment, subtopic Cabaret Voltaire.
Studio of Fine Arts III (Intermedia): The end of music - a collective search for the meaning of this art // final project: open-ended assignment.
Studio of Fine Arts III (Photo): inspiration by the idea of digital gardening // final project: open-ended assignment.
Visiting Artist Studio: Building structure. Finding a platform that ensures that different co-creators with different points of view and voices participate in the process of producing collaborative work. // final project: open-ended assignment.
Studio of Glass: "Der Teufel steckt im Detail" – essay and designs for a fine art or utilitarian object on the theme "Detail". // final project: implementation of the semester assignment proposal.
Studio of Ceramics and Porcelain: Tiling - designing a form for tiling the walls of the UMPRUM Technology Centre // final project: Nose to the Table - the theme reflects the trend of small studies, a study of different techniques for creating applied objects for dining, linking craft skills and design.
Studio of Concept – Object – Meaning (K.O.V.): Show What's Inside You - an object demonstrating the artist's creative abilities and what defines him/her // final project: jewellery for me - jewellery for yourself defining the artist's personality.
Studio of Fashion Design: "Who I am, a collection for myself" - perception of identity and wardrobe, interpretation of ideas creating a personal wardrobe.
Studio of Fashion and Footwear Design: How to build a professional fashion brand – build a clothing brand targeted at a selected range of potential customers, taking into account sustainability - the result being a collection with a developed visual identity, accessories, and price list.
Studio of Textile Design: Cellulose - possibilities of using cellulose, a natural plant material, benefits, and disadvantages. Experimental processing of cellulose and the search for its potential in contemporary material design.
Studio of Illustration and Graphics: Book – slow (1) and fast book (2), handmade, original book (1) and a non-manuscript book using stolen material // final project: Wimmelplakat - a poster with an elaborate, detailed illustration in which the game is hidden.
Studio of Type Design and Typography: From the physical to the digital, a journey there and back again - exploring the relationship between the analogue and the digital in typography and reproduction.
Studio of Graphic Design and Visual Communications: Cookbook - create your own recipe book, a minimum of 64 pages, full colour print, and personal or family recipes.
Studio of Film and TV Graphics: The Scent of Distance - integration of one's own concept of the phenomenon of distance into the form of any audiovisual work – film.
Studio of Graphic Design and New Media: SYSTEM - as a basic constant. A look at the system from the point of view of its origin, application, solutions in the globalized environment of current media, environmental aspects of the system, the system of work, critical and theoretical reflection // final project: video on the topic Systems.
Studio of Photography II: HIGHWAY MINDWAY – urban photography, a different way of thinking about public space and its shaping. The main motif is the Prague thoroughfare and the vision of its future.
Studio of Design and Digital Technologies: The Moving Image - a deeper introduction to the medium, narrative storytelling through video games // final project: Life Below the Surface - an audiovisual work based on semester-long preparation.
Planet B: Toxic futures - tracking energy development pathways and their ecological footprints. Speculative projects by teams of students drawn from different disciplines.