The lecture will focus on the bentwood furniture of the post-war decades in Czechoslovakia, its specifics, changes and the main designers who participated in the composition of the production range of the TON national enterprise from its establishment in 1953 to the early 1990’s. The three corporate designers of TON, Antonín Šuman, Radomír Hofman and Josef Macek, will be presented in the context of the exhibitions of the last three years, prepared in connection with the important anniversaries of these creators.
Lecturers: PhDr. Dagmar Koudelková, Mgr. Karolína Kouřilová
Lecture will be held in Czech language.
Capacity is limited. Advance ticket purchase required.
Entry: 70 CZK
Josef Macek (1942–2016), a graduate of the Woodworking Secondary School in Bystřice pod Hostýnem, is one of the creators, alongside Antonín Šuman and Radomír Hofman, who with their designs fundamentally influenced the shape of bentwood furniture in Czechoslovakia after the Second World War. During his employment at the TON national enterprise, he participated in the composition of the production range and was active after 1990, when the company was reorganised and privatised. During his four decades of activity at TON, he developed over eight hundred designs for chairs, armchairs, tables and additional furniture, ninety of which are registered in the industrial design database.
The exhibition Josef Macek’s Bentwood Furniture was prepared by the National Centre for Furniture Design, a public benefit society, in 2022 to mark the eightieth birthday of the designer, whose chairs were known to every citizen of Czechoslovakia, but only a few people could associate them with the name of their creator. The authors of the exhibition try to present Macek’s work as widely as possible through the mass-produced seating furniture on display, as well as prototypes, drawings, photographs and other documentary materials, and they hope that the current reprise of the exhibition at Villa Tugendhat will ensure that at least some of the models will not be forgotten.
More information about the exhibition can be found HERE.
The exhibition has been prepared by the National Centre for Furniture Design, a public benefit society, in cooperation with the Brno City Museum, with the support of the town of Bystřice pod Hostýnem and the TON joint-stock company.