By Hannah Straw

Formerly housed in an abandoned abattoir in Holešovice, MeetFactory moved to Smíchov in 2005, following disastrous floods which all but destroyed the old building. However, floods be damned, its gallery is not only back up to speed, but hoping to expand rapidly through its new Artist in Residency program, which was launched in October 2007. This program offers a haven for international artists, who are invited to house themselves and their art in studios on site. A board of professional artists, including the locally and internationally acclaimed David Černý (responsible for those weird baby sculptures climbing up Prague’s television tower), offer their critique and advice for works in progress.

Within its whitewashed walls, MeetFactory hosts a theatre, gallery space, housing for artists and an independent cinema. No apology is made for its industrial appearance; all the original features have been retained, and the ingenuity of the building that resonates from the gallery walls is echoed in the artists’ work.

You’ll have to wait until September for the theatre, but as an antidote to this vacuum MeetFactory is hosting a free film-club every Wednesday evening throughout the summer months. As a weekly theme, an hour’s excerpt from Berlin Alexanderplatz, the longest fictional narrative ever produced, will be shown at 10pm. This will be preceded by a film which is shown from 7pm. A bar and complimentary interval nibbles are available.

If visual art tickles your fancy, be sure to check out the current exhibition Off Course, running from July 24th to August 24th, where art meets sport in a canopy of mixed media and gaffa-tape. 

Intrigued? Head down to the MeetFactory Smíchov to settle your curiosity amongst artistic sculptures designed, according to co-ordinating artist Dušan, to make us consider how sport has changed since the fall of communism. Certainly thought-provoking, this display will make you reconsider sporting implements and the way in which we use them.

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