Cyrillo-Methodian exhibitions

863 – Cyril and Methodius in Great Moravia
1150^th anniversary of the arrival of the missionaries

The first exhibition will begin at The Palace of Noble Ladies of the Moravian Museum in Brno in March 2013 and it will be composed of several “sub-exhibitions”:

Saints Cyril and Methodius – Period, Lives, Work (The Moravian Museum, Brno)

Date: 28th March – 29th September 2013
Venue: The Palace of of Noble Ladies of the Moravian Museum in Brno

The aim of the project is to introduce the general cultural and social phenomenon of the Cyrillo-Methodian mission with an emphasis on the fundamentality of its impact on the formation of Czech national society. A top-ranking historical and archaeological presentation of materials from research conducted by the Moravian Museum and partner institutions dealing with Great Moravia before, at the time and after the mission of the missionaries. The research has been conducted for more than half a century.

Accompanying program:

Interactive Educational Program for Schools "Pilgrimaging with Saints Cyril and Methodius (23rd April - 27th September 2013)

Program: Introducing Saints Cyril and Methodius as extraordinary personalities of our cultural history forms the basis of the educational program. Together, we will follow the footsteps of the brothers from Solun and we will talk about the importance of their mission not only in the territory of Great Moravia. By means of collectors' items, we will - in the context of the Cyrillo-Methodian mission - familiarize ourselves also with the lives and, above all, with the spiritual culture of Slavs in Great Moravia.

Aims of the program: Students are supposed to become actively engaged in the exhibition by means of researchers' sheets, interacive devices and dramatic etudes that will be used in the course of the program. After the completion of the program, students will be able to orient themselves in the given topic, they will be able to interpret the meaning of the cultural legacy of saint missionaries.
Intended for: more senior years of elementary schools and secondary schools
Theatrical Summer in Bishops' Courtyard 2013:

Cyril and Methodius or The Adventure of the Script (22nd June, 23rd June, 24th June, 4th July, 5th July, 6th July, 7th July 2013 at 8:30 p.m.)

The play titled "Cyril and Methodius" will not be any traditional biographical narration. Destinies of both the brothers from Solun and their pilgrimage to Great Moravia are connected to love stories of three Moravians - an intellectual called Svojmír, a warrior named Vojslav and their love, a sensual village girl named Vesna. Moreover, these dramatic performances then mingle with ballet sequences that tell a story of the core of the Cyrillo-Methodian mission - the story of the script. It has been prepared in cooperation with the Brno City Theater.

Cyrillo-Methodian traces in music, theater and literature (The Moravian Museum, Brno; March to September 2013)

The aim of the project is to introduce artistic and educational reflections of the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in music, theater and literature. These are presentations of art events and artifacts from the spheres of the individual arts.

Cyrillo-Methodian mission (Velehrad, Modrá; May to August 2013)

The aim is to present, in an authentic environment and on the occasion of the national and church celebrations, a historical exhibition related to the given theme. The structure (contents) of the project will have as its point of departure the preceding exhibition in Brno (Exhibition Saints Cyril and Methodius. Time, Life, Work). However, this presentation will be, as to its extent, narrowed down in a significant way.

Response to the Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in Popular Culture

Date: 28th March – 29th September 2013
Venue: The Palace of Noble Ladies of the Moravian Museum

In the 19th century, the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition achieved a significant response in the environment of the popular strata of the Moravian countryside but also in cities. The missionaries as representatives of the Czech oriented spiritual culture became one of the icons of the emancipating Czech society. The theme got reflected in ceramics, devotional graphics and prints related to pilgrimages. An important example of the Cyrillo-Methodian motive is a unique underpainting on glass called Baptism of Prince Bořivoj, coming from Zdanice paintings from the first third of the 19th century. The exhibits will be accompanied by remarkable documentary photographs from pilgrimages to Velehrad from the first third of the 20th century.

The presentation will be accompanied with selections from Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, which will help to enhance the overall atmosphere of the sacral space of the chapel.
The collection is from the collection fund of the Ethnographic Institute of the Moravian Museum and it could supplement the prepared presentation of the Moravian Museum, because it will sketch in the whole breadth of the collections of the national institution.

Photographic exhibition “From Moravia to the Time Immemorial”

Date: 28th March – 29th September 2013
Venue: The Palace of Noble Ladies of the Moravian Museum

The exhibition includes photographs from an extensive territory that was in the ninth and tenth centuries, in a demonstrable way, connected with the mission of the holy missionaries Cyril and Methodius and their disciples. The artistically processed shots depict well-preserved church monuments from the territory of then Great Moravia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia, which have some connection with the work and the spiritual legacy of the missionaries, Cyril and Methodius, and their disciples. The author of the photographs – Mgr. Petr Francán – has been working on this project for several years. A collected photographical presentation of the monuments and more extensive texts point out the deeper meaningful connections within the given period of time.
- 80 pieces of large format color photographs, mostly in the 60 cm x 90 cm format
- adjusted – under the UV foil in a wooden frame
- more extensive captions (broader socio-historical context)

863 – Cyril and Methodius – reflections in history and art (Prague; November 2013 to February 2014)

The aim of the project is – in a form of an umbrella exhibition and, at the same time, the most extensive exhibition – to give a vivid picture of the phenomenon of the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition and its reflections in the representative premises of the Waldstein Palace in Prague. The exhibition will consist of the preceding individual exhibition projects of the Moravian Museum (Exhibition titled Saints Cyril and Methodius. Life, Time, Work, or the Cyrillo-Methodian traces in music, theater and literature) and the exhibition project of the Olomouc Museum of Art, devoted to the reflections of the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in fine art.

Expositions are being prepared by the Moravian Museum in Brno, the Institute of Archaeology of the Academy of Sciences in
Brno, the Olomouc Museum of Art, the Museum of Moravian-Slovakia and other memory institutions.

More information:

Cyrillo-Methodian exhibitions

Between the East and the West. Saints Cyril and Methodius in culture of the Czech lands.

Another exhibition will have its premiere in Olomouc in April 2013 and it will remain there till July of that year. Prague residents then may look forward to the reopening (August to October) and Zlín residents from November 2013 to January 2014. What will the exhibition be about? In Olomouc, the 1150^th anniversary of the arrival of Saints Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia is connected with the 950^th anniversary of the renewal of the Olomouc Bishopric. The beginnings of which, in the 9^th century, are also connected with the Great-Moravian period. Olomouc with the bishopric belonged to significant Great-Moravian hillforts. The exhibition will cover everything from the beginnings of the Cyrillo-Methodian phenomenon to the year 1990, when Pope John Paul II visited Velehrad. Attention will be paid to historical, ecclesiastical, and cultural connections as well as to artifacts and other historical and documentary materials.

The expositions are being prepared by the Olomouc Museum of Art, Moravian Museum in Brno, Regional Museum in Olomouc, State Gallery in Zlín, Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, Olomouc Archbishopric and the Bishopric of Brno, Masaryk University in Brno and Palacký University in Olomouc.

An exhibition will introduce the Cyrillo-Methodian Velehrad

The Velehrad house of Saints Cyril and Methodius is an ideal place for holding an exhibition titled Cyrillo-Methodian Velehrad, which will begin in April 2013 and will last till December of the same year.

The multi-functional Velehrad house emerged from extensive reconstruction of former agricultural structures of the granary and the stable of the Velehrad monastery. “The reconstructed structures are the point of departure for the discovery of cultural and spiritual riches of Velehrad. If Velehrad should be the place for a person to stop in this fast-moving world, the Velehrad house of Saints Cyril and Methodius creates dignified conditions for that,” Petr Přádka, the parish priest at Velehrad, explained. The house was opened in a ceremonial way in June 2011 in the presence of the Archbishop of Olomouc, Mons. Jan Graubner.

The aim of the exhibition will be introducing historic milestones connected to Velehrad and Cyril and Methodius to the viewers. Above all, older documents like engravings, vedute, photographs supplemented with texts and, to a limited extent, collectors items will be on public display. About 17 to 26 panels will be used for the installation of the exhibition.

Authors of the exhibition are PhDr. Blanka Rašticová from the Museum of Moravian Slovakia in Uherské Hradiště and Prof. PhDr. Miloslav Pojsl from the Saints Cyril and Methodius Theological Faculty of Palacký University in Olomouc.

Guarantor: Museum of Moravian Slovakia in Uherské Hradiště