The Bakala Foundation has supported the unique Identity – the story of Czech graphic design project

This October has become the unofficial month of Czech graphic design. A film celebrating the uniqueness of Czech graphic design premiered in cinemas. A few days later, the Museum Kampa hosted the opening of an exhibition, during which a monograph documenting over a century of graphic design history was launched. All these events are part of the Identity – The Story of Czech Graphic Design project, supported by the Bakala Foundation.

The story of this unique multimedia project, Identity – The Story of Czech Graphic Design, began six years ago. “Originally, it was supposed to be just a television series, but the topic was too vast to fit into just seven episodes,” explains Michal Gregorini of the Mowshe Studio, one of the project's initiators and producers.

According to him, expanding the project into four pillars eventually opened doors for securing the necessary support. “It was fantastic that I didn’t need to convince Zdeněk Bakala, introduced to me by Karel Schwarzenberg, about the importance of graphic design – he already understood it. Thanks to the Michaela and Zdeněk Bakala Foundation, and the support of the Baudiš family, we were able to launch Identity project,” Gregorini recounts the complex process of financing such a large-scale project. Over three years, the Bakala Foundation provided the creators with a total of 6 million CZK.

In January and February, Czech Television broadcasted a series that presented graphic design as a field Czechs can deservedly be proud of. It highlighted key figures whose work shaped the public space, such as Ladislav Sutnar, Karel Teige, Alfons Mucha, Clara Istlerová, Petr Babák, Tomáš Brousil, and others. Due to the positive reception from both the public and the professional community, the series is now available on the streaming platform.

In the fall of 2024, the collective monograph Identita – The Story of Czech Graphic Design, authored and edited by Linda Kudrnovská, was published. As the most enduring result of the project, the book offers, among other things, interviews with contemporary Czech graphic designers and typographers, including Aleš Najbrt, Zuzana Lednická, and Zdeněk Ziegler. An English edition of the book is also in progress.

The book was launched during the opening of an exhibition of the same name at Museum Kampa. From October 12 to February 2, 2025, hundreds of exhibits will be on display, spanning from the early 20th century to the present: iconic posters, books and magazines, dozens of logos, national symbols, navigation systems, and exceptional examples of graphic design from the audiovisual media era.

Simultaneously, as of October 10, the film Identita: A Film About Czech Graphic Design is touring Czech art house cinemas. The film is an adventurous journey tracing the footsteps of Czech graphic design, led by world-renowned auctioneer and Czech-American Nicholas Lowry. In the movie, Lowry travels from New York to Prague as a passionate collector to explore what has shaped and defined Czech national identity. The screenings will continue until December in selected cinemas across the Czech Republic.

More information about Identity can be found on the project’s website.