Prague is set to welcome its first international contemporary art fair next spring, with the launch of Prague Contemporary. The fair is the brainchild of founder and director Alexandra Karpuchina, the owner of Prague’s Karpuchina Gallery (formerly Black Pearl Gallery). Bulgarian art dealer Stephan Stoyanov will serve as the fair’s curatorial director.
Titled “This Feeling Has No Name,” the inaugural edition will feature forty Czech and international galleries and is set to take place at Prague’s Industrial Palace. Originally conceived to host large exhibitions and designed by architects Bedřich Münzberger and Antonín Wiehl, the palace was completed in 1891. The building is one of the earliest examples of steel-frame architecture in the region and recently underwent an extensive restoration.
The fair aims to connect Central and Eastern European galleries with international collectors. A full list of participants has not yet been released, but Art-Journal reports the Czechia-based Kodl Contemporary and DSC Gallery are among the expected exhibitors, as are Vienna’s Emanuel Layr, the Portuguese-Spanish Pedro Cera Gallery, and The Window Project, from Tbilisi.
News of the fair’s arrival comes at an uncertain time for Central European art fairs. Earlier this year, Viennacontemporary announced the cancellation of its 2026 edition, while Spark Art Fair Vienna announced a “pause.” However, a new fair, the Astoria Artshow, opened in the Austrian capital last month.