Launched in 2015, Kateřina Havrlant’s collection marks its tenth anniversary with a confident, coherent profile. Developed with the careful curatorial guidance of Ján Gajdušek, it currently comprises approximately 200 works by emerging and established artists from the Czech and international art scenes, including Klára Hosnedlová, Eva Koťátková, Anna Uddenberg, Monia Ben Hamouda, and Justin Fitzpatrick.
Havrlant, a successful businesswoman operating internationally with a focus on technology and AI, also channels her passion and expertise into contemporary art and philanthropy. In an interview with Marta Wróblewska, she discusses her approach to supporting individual artists, collaborating with art institutions, and – above all – art collecting, to which she applies best practices from business while remaining open to innovation – agile and flexible – with particular emphasis on sustainability, transparency, and credibility.
Marta Wróblewska: It’s always fascinating to know who stands behind a collection. Therefore, firstly, I would like to make reference to you as a collector. You have been emphasising that 2015, exactly 10 years ago, was the year that prompted you to start thinking more structurally about your collection. What exactly happened?
Kateřina Havrlant: The decisive impulse to begin my collection in earnest in 2015 was a meeting in London in 2012 with Meda Mládková, an iconic collector and emblematic figure of the Czech art scene. Her visit coincided with the launch of Google Arts & Culture, through which Museum Kampa and her collection were presented online in a beautifully detailed way. As the only Czech person in the London office, I accompanied Meda during her stay and, in doing so, learned a great deal about her career and her collection, which includes the largest number of works by František Kupka, as well as many artists from his era.
2012 was also a year when Instagram and YouTube came further into the spotlight, changing people’s behaviour with regard to social media. Against this backdrop, we discussed not only acquiring art but also new ways of presenting it online and offline. Meda recalled that, when she began collecting, artists often relied heavily on philanthropic support to gain global visibility. Given the contemporary context, we agreed that the art world needed new forms of mediation to connect artists with emerging technologies and help them achieve greater international visibility.
I took these conversations seriously and soon afterwards brought my team to Prague to visit Museum Kampa. There, I met the wonderful curator Ján Gajdušek (now also a curator at one of Prague’s most progressive Czech art institutions – MeetFactory), with whom I developed the ideas I had discussed with Meda. That was the beginning of our collaboration. By 2013, he had already compiled an initial list of artists and studios to visit. We began with Tomáš Predka, several of whose paintings I acquired. We continued with further studio visits, agreeing that systematic collecting requires a clear ethos – a framework within which to operate. Our main objective was to support the Czech – and, later, the broader European – contemporary art scene in navigating the challenges associated with technological change and to help propel it forward.
M.W.: So, the beginning of your collecting is really marked by productive and inspiring encounters.
K.H.: Yes. Especially the unpredictable parts of the journey, such as meeting Ján, who would later become the curator of my collection. It was a mix of inspiration and external factors – creative coincidences that carried the process from one step to the next.
M.W.: That’s the charm of the art world, isn’t it? Talking about other collectors – is there any network within which you operate that would provide space for professional exchange?
K.H.: In Czechia, relatively few private collectors focus on contemporary art. I therefore look to the private galleries we collaborate with – Polansky, hunt kastner, and to international collectors for benchmarks and best practices. We are especially inspired by the Boros Collection, with its remarkable Berlin bunker and an outstanding roster of artists, as well as the Julia Stoschek Foundation and corporate collections such as Deutsche Telekom’s. These organisations work with leading curators, develop strong curatorial concepts, and operate with transparency and credibility. Across Eastern Europe, examples on that scale are rarer, which is why, for now, I tend to look to Western models.
M.W.: Considering your own experience, what would be your message to the novice collectors?
K.H.: First of all, it’s always important to start. And obviously, art is about emotions, so it’s good to listen to your heart. On the other hand, you should have some sort of concept that would define or frame your actions. It’s also important to be able to navigate, especially in the realm of contemporary art, continue to study it, but also let yourself be inspired by it in a spontaneous way. I think my collection reflects it quite well – enough to look at its website.
It’s good to observe other collectors, follow the careers of the artists you like, and perhaps visit galleries and some of the bigger art events like Art Basel or Frieze, to get a glimpse of how the art world operates. When it comes to purchases, I think it’s very important to take some time to reflect before you make the final decision. And above all, never give up on your dreams, keep on pursuing the works or artists even if they’re not within your financial reach at the moment.
“Art is about emotions, so it’s good to listen to your heart. On the other hand, you should have some sort of concept that would define or frame your actions.”
— Kateřina Havrlant
M.W.: Talking about dreams – which ones have you already accomplished with regard to your collection, and which ones are still to be fulfilled?
K.H.: I think the dreams that came true are the examples of the artists who, over the last 10 years, have become very successful. The other part of this dream is to be able to follow them on their journey as they grow, which is my biggest satisfaction. Enough to mention the career of Klára Hosnedlová, whose work entered my collection many years ago, and who recently celebrated a solo show at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin.
In terms of dreams to fulfil in the future, with my curator, we made a list that includes lots of wonderful artists whom we’re slowly approaching. Two, three years ago, we shifted towards collecting on a more international level, and I’d love to pursue this direction transparently, presenting the works online and supporting our activities with relevant yet reasonable and sustainable PR strategies. I believe that broadening the collection’s context enhances the visibility of the artists within it, strengthening and expanding its impact.
M.W.: It somehow touches the philanthropic side of your collecting.
K.H.: Yes, I’m happy to support individual artists in their pursuits, for example, helping them to finance projects or residencies abroad.
M.W.: Do you imagine a more structured artist support programme in the future?
K.H.: We have already written a strategy on that, in connection with a foundation we want to start. However, primarily, I’m a businesswoman right now, with the priority to support startups and work with diverse entities in the field of AI and digital transformation. Managing an art foundation on a serious level requires time and attention. That’s why, for now, I’m happy with a more informal approach which lets me keep certain freedom in my relations with the artists. Formalising a foundation will probably still take us a few years – I think approaching it slowly and with proper care is what makes it more credible.
M.W.: You talk a lot about supporting young art. You stay in touch with individual artists as well as with art academies. What are your impressions of the fresh graduates? Does the art education system properly prepare them to enter the national and international art scene?
H.K.: Indeed, I am on the board of the commercialisation council of the Academy of Arts, Architecture & Design in Prague (UMPRUM). From my observation, the level of business management skills when it comes to young artists is usually very low. That’s why, after graduation, most of them have to find one or two other jobs to make a living. But also, many of them seem not determined enough to take action, move to another country, try to get more visibility, approach galleries and institutions, or even sell their works at the proper price. I think art education is more focused on the production of art itself than on its management after it’s been created. That’s why at UMPRUM we are trying to address this significant gap, for example, by adding to the curriculum lectures on business and management.
M.W.: Together with the curator Ján Gajdušek, you’ve been giving more and more visibility to your collection, for example, through exhibitions which accompany Prague Art Week. What are some of the curating strategies you follow?
H.K.: Yes, we started collaborating with Prague Art Week in 2022 with the show in Pragovka art hub. At the time, the HAC#1 exhibition focused primarily on presenting paintings from the collection. This time, we wanted to show the collection within a broader media context; accordingly, alongside paintings, objects, and video works are prominently represented. The exhibition also mostly features acquisitions made over the past three years. This year, we were presenting the collection in the Mánes Exhibition Hall.
Each time, it is really Ján who sets the boundaries and arranges the proper dialogues, always having in mind the long-term vision of the collection’s growth and development. That’s why we decided to go online with all the pieces in full transparency. This keeps the artists visible even if we are not currently showing their works in any physical space. Ján also introduced me to collecting video art, which was a bit challenging for me at first.
M.W.: Why?
H.K.: Even as a technologist, I had many questions about the specific nature of this medium – how to approach the rules of purchasing and collecting, and how to store and protect it, especially given fast-changing technologies. At the same time, moving image gives artists far more scope than traditional techniques, allowing them to combine and experiment with multiple elements – visuals and sound – simultaneously. In that sense, it’s a more comprehensive medium.
“Moving image gives artists far more scope than traditional techniques, allowing them to combine and experiment with multiple elements – visuals and sound – simultaneously. In that sense, it’s a more comprehensive medium.”
— Kateřina Havrlant
M.W.: I think this in particular reflects well your concept of a collection as a witness – to times, transformations, attitudes, etc. How do you imagine its future? Is institutionalisation an option?
H.K.: I understand “institutionalisation” as eventually opening a space of our own, which would be wonderful; however, we are not planning that step at this moment. For now, we are focusing on working with artists, supporting them, and organising occasional exhibitions – such as this one at the Mánes Exhibition Hall – where we aimed to present the collection under the best possible conditions. We already work very tightly and willingly with a lot of institutions and galleries when it comes to loans. We’ve been supporting Prague Art Week since 2022, also on a financial level. Organising an overview of a collection should take place every couple of years, as it happens in the case of the Boros Foundation. This timeframe ensures the right distance to the internal dynamics that shape the transformations and growth of the collection itself. At the same time, should we ever have our own space in the future, it would have to be something special.
M.W.: What would make it special?
K.H.: I’m not interested in opening a gallery that simply displays what I’ve bought. I would like to rely on a solid concept – potentially including an artist-in-residence program to welcome artists from around the world to Prague. Collaboration with major museums and institutions – through knowledge exchange and substantive debate – is especially appealing. Ultimately, it would need to be a more complex entity than a space that merely houses a collection. My primary purpose has always been – and will remain – to support individual artists. That said, the right institutional framework, grounded in sound principles and carried out with a thoughtful strategy, could only strengthen that mission.
M.W.: A living museum, rather than a mausoleum, right?
K.H.: Correct!
“My primary purpose has always been – and will remain – to support individual artists. That said, the right institutional framework, grounded in sound principles and carried out with a thoughtful strategy, could only strengthen that mission.”
— Kateřina Havrlant
