The Botanical Garden and Arboretum of Mendel University in Brno is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its first ‘Beauty of Irises’ exhibition. To commemorate this milestone, a special exhibition is currently open and will run until 25 May. Visitors are invited to enjoy the blooming irises throughout the garden and to explore an indoor exhibition that reflects on the history of this floral event.
The exhibition designers, Barbara Ševčíková and Anna Magni of the ZF MENDELU Institute of Garden and Landscape Architecture, are continuing the work of Professor Ivar Otruba, who was the sole author until his death in 2022.
“This year’s exhibition reinterprets the creative principles of Professor Otruba, and the focus remains on celebrating the iris genus, which has fascinated humans since ancient times,” said Ševčíková. “The exhibition will also present Professor Otruba’s circle of collaborating artists, including the sculptor Pavel Kostrhun and the painters Vojtěch Štolfa and Josef Kadula. Their original works are part of the exhibition.”
The thematic exhibition on the ground floor of the administrative building is divided into several sections. An axially placed pair of abstract figurative sculptures by Pavel Kostrhun dominates the entrance to the room. On the white wall are posters from the earliest iris exhibitions by Vojtěch Štolfa and Josef Kadula.
“The central part of the exhibition is an imaginary room in which original, detailed, and elaborate colored drawings by Štolfa are presented in dialogue with bouquets of live irises,” said Ševčíková. “The spatial concept culminates in a large-format mural covering the entire back wall of the room. Josef Kadula’s tree is reflected on the symbolic water surface. The air is saturated with the scent of plants and colored with all the colors of the rainbow, which have passed into the petals of the irises. Flashes of light shine through the curtains of spring rain, opening the way to personal stories and associations.”
The first public ‘Beauty of Irises’ exhibition was held in 1975. Period photos show striking arrangements of fresh bouquets displayed in unconventional settings inside the unfinished administrative building. “Instead of vases, Professor Otruba used inverted skylight moldings,” recalled co-author Anna Magni. His imaginative, unconventional style became a signature of all 49 iris exhibitions that followed.
Otruba’s close ties with visual artists played a key role in shaping the exhibitions. For over a decade, he collaborated with painter Josef Kadula on posters, culminating in a mural of a tree that still adorns the administration building. Later, artist Vojtěch Štolfa contributed original iris drawings, while sculptor Pavel Kostrhun, a fellow faculty member, became a creative partner in Otruba’s later work.
For the first time, the exhibition will include a children’s corner, a research and drawing room for all ages. The ‘Irises in Fine Arts’ creative workshop, an accompanying program under the auspices of the Brno House of Arts, will also be prepared for Saturday, 24 May.
“In the Middle Ages, the iris was a symbol of beauty and royal power, as well as a source of beautiful pigment,” said Romana Horáková, the artist who prepared the workshop. “In our workshop, we will focus on historical techniques for processing iris flowers and producing iris paint, which was used in illuminated manuscripts and paintings.”
For more information on the workshop, email edukace@dum-umeni.cz.
