Blanka Čermáková

Bio

Blanka has been working in the field of visual arts since childhood. Her parents both taught at the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts (SUPŠ) in Turnov. Blanka studied Arts Management, specialising in museums and galleries. She gained her first work experience at the Department of Art and Libraries of the Ministry of Culture, to begin with as a clerk, and then as director. After four years she moved to the Department of Public Communications at the Academy of Fine Arts (AVU) in Prague, where for 14 years she prepared graduate exhibitions, managed the AVU Gallery, and was involved in fundraising and publishing activities.

In 2007, together with Jan Kaláb, Jakub Nepraš and Michal Cimala, she founded the Trafačka Association in a former transformer station in Vysočany. She ran an alternative gallery that over the eight years of its existence hosted 200 public events, oversaw the creation of 35 art studios and become the basis of the creation of the private Trafo Gallery in 2016 in the Holešovice Market.

“Art and the diverse, nonconformist society that surrounds it has been a natural part of my life since childhood, and I cannot imagine being without its energy, creativity and sense of mission. However, once in a while, having overdosed on art – by which I mean also books, music and film – I escape to nature and sport.”