Czech Grand Design 2008

From 24 March, the exhibition hall of the Prague Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague introduces an exhibition held on the occasion of the third year of the Annual Awards of the Design Academy Czech Republic / 2008 Czech Grand Design Awards, announced by the free association of professionals (curators, theoreticians, critics and publicist active in the field of design). The awards are divided into eight categories whose winners are: Designer of the Year – Jan Čtvrtník (nominated for his vase “Droog Aalto”, the collection of seating furniture for Polstrin, and a vase for Moser); Fashion Designer of the Year – Monika Drápalová (for her collection “Cache – Cache”); Graphic Designer of the Year – Robert V. Novák (for his graphic design of the book The Brussels Dream and the graphic design of the Trapist Psalter); Photographer of the Year – Salim Issa and Štěpánka Stein (nominated for the collection of photographs for DesignGuide 2009, the Jablonex 2008 calendar and the exhibition “Little Hanoi”); Business Deal of the Year – Dox by Qubus; Producer of the Year – company Lucis (for its collection of lamps “Helium”, “Neon”, “Argon” and “Antimon”; design René Šulc); Discovery of the Year – Vladimír Žák (nominated for his dissertation at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, i.e. the chair and sofa “Kubikula” for Uměleckoprůmyslové závody [Art Industry Enterprises], the chair “Therapia” for Prowork/Divan Design, and the design of the “UŠÁK” armchair). The last category is the Hall of Fame into which Jan Kaplický was introduced this year in memoriam.

The exhibition represents a logical conclusion of the Czech Grand Design Awards and its main aim is to introduce both professional and layman public into the events in the field of contemporary Czech Design as well as to promote the individual artists and their achievements.