Plato
Plato is the way to enable encounters with contemporary art in various places and in various forms.
Plato, an art gallery based in Ostrava, provides opportunities to encounter a diverse range of contemporary art forms and amplifies discussions on its themes, subjects, contributions and possibilities.
It showcases work by truly outstanding contemporary artists, both Czech-based and international, presented in the gallery’s spaces and in the esplanade of the Multifunctional Hall Gong (1000 m2) in Dolní oblast Vítkovice area. Particular exhibitions are held in Trojhalí, a reconstructed industrial space (4500 m2).
Amongst its other activities, PLATO covers a project entitled Parallel Mission, which is structured around three main lines: a cycle of discussions entitled The Head of an Artist, a cycle of lectures called Strong in Theory, and a cycle on Left-off Palette, focused on the fine arts created by new media, literature, film, music, dance and theatre. An independent project, PLATOvideo, is dedicated to moving pictures. Another cycle, Carl is sick and reads out (in cooperation with the Ostrava City Library) presents artists as readers. An important part of PLATO’s activities consists of programmes for schools, families, children and events in public spaces. (Program is available only on Czech website)
The critic and curator Marek Pokorný has been Plato’s Artistic Manager since 2013, and many renowned artists, such as Zbyněk Baladrán, Pavel Vančát, Tomáš Glanc, Jen Kratochvil, Terezie Nekvindová, or Jiří Ptáček regularly cooperate on the management of the collections.
The activities of Plato are carried out thanks to subsidies from the Statutory City of Ostrava, which has been granted to the organisation since 2013. Plato is operated by Trojhalí Karolína – a commonwealth of legal entities.
