Bratislava City Gallery's relaxed talks about art find fans among foreigners

Visiting a gallery is no longer just about strolling past works of art. Today, galleries offer educational and experiental programmes for various kinds of visitors, and even encourage them to create their own works of art. The Bratislava City Gallery (GMB) has embarked on this path too, offering a range of programmes for its English-speaking visitors.

“The visitors don’t necessarily have to be tourists; they may also be foreigners living in Bratislava,” Vladislav Malast from the GMB’s education department told The Slovak Spectator. “Another group of visitors interested in the gallery’s English programmes are non-native speakers who want to brush up or deepen their knowledge of English.”

Programmes for visitors to the GMB (8 photos)

These are precisely the art lovers for whom the GMB has created its regular Let’s Talk Art! guided tours in English. These enable visitors to admire works of art while conversing with other international participants and a curator or lecturer. The event takes place once a month, usually on the last Thursday of the month, starting at 17:00. Attendees visit either an ongoing temporary exhibition or the permanent exhibition, in the GMB's Mirbach Palace or Pálffy Palace locations.

“The guide presents the exhibition, but there is also enough space to talk about the exhibited artworks or any other related topics,” said Malast, who is an expert in art history. After the tour, participants can continue their open discussion in the Emil café, within the Mirbach Palace.

Malast’s experience is that attendees are interested not only in the presented works of art, but also architecture, as both palaces are architectural gems featuring various styles including Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque and Rococo.

Another aspect that is interesting for attendees of the Let’s Talk Art! tours is history. As Malast noted, insight into certain periods of history is an inseparable part of the tours, as it helps provide a better understanding of the context of the exhibited art.

“It does not necessarily mean that visitors will be told the entire history of the Hungarian Kingdom or Czechoslovakia, but a piece of history lies somewhere in the background of each exhibition,” said Malast.

For example, the current exhibition “Look, Pressburg! From Graphic Veduta to Photographic Views”, shows the development of Bratislava. Visitors can see the fire-ravaged Podhradie district, i.e. the area below Bratislava Castle, the castle when it was still in ruins, and how Bratislava looked before the SNP Bridge was built.

“These pictures, given that visitors often know only current Bratislava, can inspire them to raise questions about the history and development of the city,” said Malast.

Previously, individual tours have been held in the form of lectures, but the relaxed atmosphere of Let’s Talk Art! is gradually finding its fans.

“The feedback is very positive, with visitors saying that they will return and even bring their friends next time,” said Malast.

The gallery’s ambition is to extend the pool of visiting foreigners. It has started cooperating with The Bridge language school, and plans to establish closer cooperation with international schools in Bratislava.

In the future it also wants to extend its English programmes by means of workshops.

“We perceived and still perceive the potential to work more intensively with foreign-language audiences,” said Malast.

Former owners as guides

Another way to enjoy the GMB and its art collections in English is to use the self-service materials the gallery has prepared for families with children.

In the Mirbach palace, the guide is Count Emil Mirbach. He lived more than a century ago and was the building's last resident. Visitors can save the character 'Nymph', unlock a riddle, and free some heroes with him during their tour.

“The reward that visitors can request at the end of the tour are stickers that they can use to build their own palace,” said Malast, recalling that the Mirbach Place, with its Rococo facade, is richly decorated.

In the Pálffy Palace, the game “Search Operation with Ján” takes visitors through the palace, from its deepest cellar, where evidence survives of the ancient Celts who once lived here, via its mediaeval period, to a modern, endless labyrinth – a work made of thousands of books and mirrors by contemporary artist Matej Krén.

The search is led by an avatar of the palace's former, Ján Pálffy, who lived in the 19th century and was the biggest collector of artworks in Hungary.

“When visitors go through the palace and solve the riddle, they will receive a cipher to decode a mysterious inscription in the palace and find out what Ján Pálffy said about it,” said Malast.

Create your own work of art

Another way to enjoy art at the GMB is to create your own, in a self-service studio in the Mirbach Palace.

“This year is devoted to graphic art, creating a tribute to the Cabinet of Prints as well as the exhibition “Look, Pressburg! From Graphic Veduta to Photographic Views”, showcasing various, mostly graphic, methods of depicting the city of Pressburg, i.e. present-day Bratislava,” said Malast.

In the studio visitors can try, for example, the linocut technique.

“They can draw, engrave, print, and take home their own graphic art,” specified Malast. Like all texts for the exhibitions and the GMB’s buildings, the instructions in the studio are in English as well as Slovak.

The studio has been very well received so far.

“It was full to bursting, especially during big events like the Night of Museums or Bratislava City Days,” said Malast. “But we see that people use it during normal weekdays too.”