The exhibition and seminar took place on the occasion of 110th anniversary of the birth of J. Brehms. The seminar was followed by the opening of the exhibition "Joan Brehms (1907-1995): Scenographer, Architect and Painter". The exhibition was prepared by the National Museum of the Czech Republic under the auspices of the Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic Mr. Jiří Šesták and Minister of Culture of Latvia Mrs. Dace Melbārde in cooperation with the Liepāja Municipal Authority, the Great Amber Concert Hall, South Bohemian Theater of České Budějovice and J. Brehms’ family and friends.

A seminar on J. Brehms exhibition was opened and moderated by Mr. Jānis Siliņš, Director of the Theater Museum in Rīga. The Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Riga and Mr. Jiří Šesták briefly thanked the Minister of Culture for her support of this event. Then, the speeches of the Minister of Culture, Deputy Mayor of Liepāja Atis Deksnis and General Director of the National Museum Michal Lukeš have followed.  Mr. Vojtěch Poláček, the author of the exhibition and the head of the Theater Department of the National Museum, told about the creation of the exhibition and presented in detail the architectural experiments of J. Brehms in the context of world theater architecture as well as the top scenography of J. Brehms in the 1960-ies.

Jiří Šesták, the Vice-President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic continued with a lecture about the rotating auditorium as a unique access to natural space for scenic art and a polydimensional auditorium as a unique theatrical vision of J. Brehms that is still awaiting its realization. The director of the South Bohemian Theater in České Budějovice Lukáš Průdek expressed confidence in a successful future of the rotating auditorium in the Český Krumlov Castle complex. The photographers Dana Vitásková and Michal Tůma, the representatives of Brehms’ family,  howed the stage designer through the pictures across a time, and Mrs. Baiba Māzere, a Latvian painter and family friend,  recalled the travels to Czechoslovakia and friendship with J. Brehms.

Then, Mr. Miroslav Kosek, Ambassador of the Czech Republic in Latvia oficially opened the.

The seminar and the exhibition were attended by Czech delegation represented by  the Senate of the Czech Republic, the National Museum (M. Lukeš), the Municipality of České Budějovice (Deputy Mayor, former Minister of Culture Mr. J. Talíř), the town of Český Krumlov (Mayor  Mr. D. Carda) and the South Bohemian Theater of České Budějovice (Director L. Průdek). The event was also attended by a large group of friends and relatives of Joan Brehms from South Bohemia, members of the diplomatic corps (SK, SE), Latvian Minister of Culture, representatives of the city of Liepāja and the Latvian Theater Museum of Riga. The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Riga prepared a bus trip for a large group of members of the Latvian - Czech Society from Riga especially for this occasion.

The theme of the seminar and the exhibition was greatly highlighted by Latvian media. On the day of opening the Panorama program of Latvian television LTV broadcast the interview with the author of the exhibition Mr. Vojtěch Poláčk entitled J. Brehms - famous in Czechia, unknown in Latvia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl4JDJ3Aei8 ). Latvijas Āvize, the Latvian Public Media portal, two portals of regional Liepāja media, the Baltic Times and the Latvian Ministry of Culture website also published the articles about the Czech event.

As the Ambassador Mr. Miroslav Kosek noted, the opening of this exhibition has succeeded in fulfilling long-term dream of the relatives and friends of J. Brehms as well as of the Czech art professionals and cultural institutions to bring back the memory of famous Czech stage designer to his hometown. So, many thanks to all individuals and institutions involved in this large and successful project, especially to the National Museum of the Czech Republic that has prepared and implemented the exhibition.

The exhibition will be moved to the Latvian Theater Museum in Riga after its completion in Liepāja and will be realized in Prague and České Budějovice next year.