New exhibition of Czech banknotes through the eyes of young artists from UMPRUM

At the exhibition, you can see that a perfectly printed commemorative certificate can be found even on a legendary inflatable toy, which decorated every child’s room in the 1970s. The author of the inflatable buffalo is renowned designer Libuše Niklová.

„Czechoslovakian and later Czech banknotes have accompanied our country from its inception. Current banknotes by Oldřich Kulhánek are considered some of the most beautiful in the world. And since we wanted to see into the future, we engaged the young generation of graphic designers from the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design” explained Tomáš Hebelka, STC General Manager.

The students had the opportunity to think about the eventual design of new Czech banknotes in the future. It was an unique opportunity to try the principles of security banknote design. Right at the start, they had to decide whether to observe the traditions or let creativity run wild and be innovative. In the end, the10 designs of banknote sets through the eyes of students were presented. The students were inspired by history, traditional Czech industry and design, visual art, significant Czech figures, nature, architecture and music. Representatives of the State Printing Works of Securities and UMPRUM together selected the winning series, titled “Banknotes as national business cards”. The author is Tuan Vuong Trong. In his work, he discovered famous moments of the one hundred years of our design – from early modernism, cubism, 1930s-40s, Brussels Style, and 1970 to the present. And since the design was very good, we decided to print the entire set on printing machines used for the printing of real banknotes.

The first commemorative certificates in the form of a banknote were already acquired and not only by serious collectors and numismatic enthusiasts. Eventually, it will be possible to purchase the entire series on the new STC e-Shop, eshop.stc.cz. Part of the revenue will be used to support art schools and other student projects.

However, this was not the end of the collaboration between the State Printing Works of Securities and the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. At the beginning of the winter semester of 2019, STC commissioned the students to prepare a study on the topic of “Personal identification of the future”, i.e. IDs for Czech citizens. Experienced students of later classes worked on this demanding project. Three comprehensive designs of the possible graphic appearance of personal identification, such as a passport, a personal ID and a driver’s license.

“I like to watch the courage and creativity of the young people from UMPRUM. The combination of STC, i.e. tradition and experience, and the UMPRUM students, creating new trends, is the way we would like to follow forward in the future years,” added Tomáš Hebelka.

If you would like to see how the students designed the banknotes and personal identification documents, come to see our joint exhibition “Banknotes and identity documents through the eyes of UMPRUM students”, organized under the auspices of Jiří Rusnok, Governor of the Czech National Bank. The exhibition in the premises of the Czech National Bank exposition “People and money” will be open for the public from 24 June to 18 December 2020. See the information on the possibilities to visit it at www.cnb.cz/expozice.

Opening hours
Tuesday – Thursday 9.00AM – 4.00PM (11:45 – 12:30 break)
Friday 9.00AM – 3.00PM

Bookings for the exhibition
Individual visitors of up to 10 people can visit the exhibition without prior booking at the above mentioned time. Groups over 10 people need a booking through the  Booking system

Where to find the exhibition
Exposition People and Money, Na Příkopě 864/28, 115 03 Prague 1
metro – B line, Náměstí Republiky
GPS: 50.0870533N, 14.4286703E

Free admission

Barrier-Free Access

We would like to stress the need to observe sanitation guidelines

  • enter only with covered nose and mouth
  • maintain 2-metres distance, unless you come with your family
  • disinfect your hands (disinfection will be provided)