It was founded in 1992 by the Czech expatriot Libuše Müller, who was awarded the Gratias Agit in 2008.

The academic sculptor František Bálek comes from Pilsen, Czech Republic, where he lives and works. He graduated at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (1979‑1985), the specialization in applied sculpture. He uses traditional sculptural materials such as metal, stone, glass or ceramics, side by side with other modern materials – plexiglass, resin, wire, and does not hesitate to use also combined techniques.

In the recent years has reached great success in international ice and sand carving competitions. He is the founder of the Momentary Art Association gathering sculptors working with these transient materials.

František Bálek is also known in Denmark. He created a statue of a whale placed in the Svendborg´s harbor at the International Symposium held on the occasion of the 750 jubilee of the foundation of the town of Svendborg in 2003.

Jiří Zahradník is a professional photographer, with the original occupation of an electrical engineer. He is a member of the Federation of the Czech Photo Art and he lives and works also in Pilsen, Czech Republic. In his work, he focuses on architecture – interiors and exteriors – and production photography, but he is also successful in portrait photography, collages and in the free art. He uses both classical and digital techniques in his work.

The two artists met in 2005, when they cooperated on the preparation of the exhibition of the digital collages of the sculptures of František Bálek in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The opening of the exhibition took place on 29 April 2009 in the presence of both artists and the Czech Ambassador Mr. Zdeněk Lyčka. The exhibition lasts until 27 May 2009.

For more information, please see:
Shambala
František Bálek
Jiří Zahradník