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The twelfth annual award ceremony held by the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art took place on 15 November 2023 at the Pilsen City Hall on the occasion of the Ceremonial meeting of the faculty´s Artistic Board. 

With the Ladislav Sutnar Prize, the faculty pays tribute to the life and work of the Pilsen native and internationally renowned Czech-American designer Ladislav Sutnar. It is presented to exceptional Czech and international artists and also institutions in recognition of their exceptional performance especially in the field of applied art and design. 

"Ladislav Sutnar's life spanned two devastating world conflicts. World War I and World War II. It spanned cultural and social revolutions. It spanned a time when it was necessary to prove one's honour, values and integrity time and again. 
Nor can today be described as a peaceful and harmonious time. On the contrary, we are living in a turbulent period in which confrontation with aggression and injustice is a daily occurence. In this context, the existence and mission of an artist is linked not only to an added aesthetic and craftsmanship value, but also to a high moral integrity. The institutions and personalities who received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize at this year's ceremony have linked their existence to art. They are icons who set the direction of contemporary artistic expression and practice. We have become partners in a common mission - to deepen what is good in human beings - creativity, empathy and love for the world around us and for ourselves, and to fight against stupidity, intolerance and malice. I firmly believe that we will continue to succeed in this mission," says Vojtěch Aubrecht, Dean of the Ladislav Sutnat Faculty of Design and Art.

The sculptor and artist Magdalena Jetelová received the Ladislav Sutnar Prize for her interdisciplinary projects involving conceptual art, land art, architecture, sculptures and light projections embedded in specific spaces, as well as for her long-term teaching activities.

The University of Applied Arts Vienna received the award for its activities that draw on historical traditions, but also keep developing new ideas about how to participate in creating and managing the changes in technologies and media.

The Printed Matter, Inc., a globally renowned non-profit organization, won the award for spreading and promoting artists’ books, publications designed as artworks of their own.

The ceremony in the Pilsen City Hall was preceded by a series of lectures and meetings with students and teachers, as well as the opening of an exhibition in the faculty's Incubator Gallery, where visitors can get to know the laureates better until 1 December. 

The Ladislav Sutnar Prize is closely linked to the development of the Sutnar Faculty and its strategy, which reflects not only its current goals but also its response to world events and contemporary challenges.

LADISLAV SUTNAR PRIZE 2023 / LAUREATES

Magdalena Jetelová / Czech Republic
Magdalena Jetelová is an internationally renowned artist who gained prominence through her monumental objects with a strong political undertone already during the time she spent in her home country, where she pursued various artistic activities to distance herself from the official visual art scene of the time. After moving to the Federal Republic of Germany in 1985, she received international recognition not only due to her unique projects, but also due to her teaching positions at prestigious art schools such as the Art Academy Düsseldorf and the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. 

University of Applied Arts Vienna / Austria
The University of Applied Arts Vienna is the successor to the Imperial Royal Arts and Crafts School founded in 1867, which was closely affiliated with the Imperial Royal Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (today known as the Museum of Applied Art). The school was elevated to college in 1941 and officially designated as a university in 1970. Its current name was introduced in 1998. Apart from teaching, the university conducts research with the aim to define key thematic points in response to current challenges in society, to design work processes open towards society, and to actively anchor the results in the change-oriented public discourse.

Printed Matter, Inc. / USA
Established in 1976 by a group of personalities active in the field of art (Sol LeWitt and Lucy Lippard among others), Printed Matter responded to the increasing interest in publications created by artists as works of art. Its comprehensive approach sees artists’ books as remarkable expressions of the current artistic practice. While focusing on this international phenomenon, Printed Matter also founded the New York Art Book Fair and the Los Angeles Art Book Fair, which have developed into leading international gatherings for the distribution of and research in artists’ books and related publications. 

Photos: Yelizaveta Skrypnik