Zlín Youth Salon

Zlín Youth Salon is focused on the work of artists younger than 30 and – like New Zlín Salon – carries on the tradition of important cultural activities in the Zlín in the 1930s and 1940s, namely the Zlín Salons of contemporary fi ne arts (1936–1948) and Youth Exhibitions (1940–1943). While the first three stagings of both triennials (1996–2003) were designed as exhibitions of contemporary Czech fine arts, since 2006 they have also presented prominent figures of the Slovak art scene. This strictly selective exhibition aims not only to present established artists, but also to discover creative talents heretofore undiscovered or for various reasons neglected. The event focuses on the most prominent figures of the youngest generation of artists new to the art scene, and its main goal is to discover true personalities within this emerging generation. The exhibition is not based on a narrowly defined curatorial perspective, but instead attempts to represent the broadest possible spectrum of all those things which contemporary scholars call art.

An extensive exhibition catalogue, published as part of an already established series, includes descriptions and photographs of the displayed works, as well as biographical data and short profiles of the participating artists. Two selected participants are awarded. The Czech exhibition jury selects the most outstanding work of the Czech collection to receive the Václav Chad Award, while the Slovak jury picks the most outstanding item of the Slovak collection for the Igor Kalný Award. The Regional Gallery of Fine Arts in Zlín offer to purchase the winning artworks and make them part of its collection. The Gallery will also organize a separate exhibition for each of the laureates.