An exhibition about European wilderness shown on a hundred large photographs has been opened in front of the Prague Rudolfinum Gallery

Press release: 24.06.2010

In the evening of Tuesday, 22 June, the Czech Minister of the Environment, Rut Bízková, and other personages ceremonially opened a travelling photographic exhibition dedicated to European wilderness. The exhibition, which is installed in the area in front of the Prague Rudolfinum Gallery, constitutes one of the events of this year’s International Year of Biodiversity and will be available here to the public from 22 June to 22 August, 24 hours a day.

The international travelling exhibition of more than 100 large photographs is the result of 125 expeditions of a team of 69 best European photographers to all 48 countries of Europe. The exhibition also includes six panels dedicated to the Šumava National Park – “Šumava Wilderness”, which accompanies the project and thus commenced a multi-year program of presentation of the natural beauty of the Czech Republic.

The photographs on the panels with night lighting are freely accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. At the same time, an accompanying program is running in the information tent next to the Rudolfinum, every day from 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. – the program focuses on presentation of the individual Administrations of National Parks and Protected Landscape Areas, together with showings of videos, discussion sessions, experts answering questions from the public and distribution of brochures and other informative material.

Ladislav Miko, the Director of Directorate B – Protecting the Natural Environment, of DG Environment of the European Commission, attended the opening of the exhibition together with the Czech Minister of the Environment, Rut Bízková. When he was the Minister of the Environment of the Czech Republic, Mr. Miko drew attention to the exhibition and contributed to its organization by ensuring support from the Ministry of the Environment,. Short introductory speeches were also made by Václav Mencl, Chairman of the Council the State Environmental Fund, which supported the exhibition, František Krejčí, Director of the Šumava NP and PLA Administration, which contributed six panels with photographs of Šumava wilderness, and Staffan Widstrand, one of the three Directors of the Wild Wonders of Europe initiative, the main organizer of this exhibition. The exhibition is being held under the auspices of Prime Minister Jan Fischer and the Mayor of the Capital City of Prague, Pavel Bém.

After opening the exhibition in the Hague on 27 May, the photographs travelled to Genoa, Italy at the beginning of June and, after Prague, they will move on to other European cities in the course of the exhibition, which will end in 2012.

Eva Veverkova, Press Office of the MoE