A Visitor’s Guide to Kampa Museum: Prague’s Home of Modern Art

The Kampa Museum is part of the Jan and Meda Mládek Foundation, which looks after an extensive collections of two icons in the history of 20th‑century art — František Kupka and Otto Gutfreund – as well as a collection of central European modern art, mainly by an artists from the so‑called Eastern Bloc. Frantisek Kupka was one of the founders of modern abstract painting and Jan and Meda Mládek supported his work during their exile in the second half of the 20th century.

I think the name ‘Kampa Museum’ is perhaps slightly confusing, because whilst called a ‘museum’ it’s a more of an art gallery with exhibitions of contemporary art, paintings and illustrations.

The Kampa Museum is on the pretty Kampa Island in the heart of Prague in the historic Sova’s Mills, a beautifully restored building, which has a great views of the Vltava River and the iconic Charles Bridge (the best view is from the roof top).

There are statues in the museum garden and entrance, so even if you don’t have the time to look around, it’s worth just exploring the outside of the museum.

My favourite reasons for visiting Kampa Museum

I really like the outside with modern though provoking statues and the location in the old mill. I often visit the different temporary exhibitions, for example the imaginative illustrations by Jiri Salamoun which were used to create children’s characters Maxipes Fik – a happy memories of my childhood.

The art is lovely on it’s own, but the building is fun to explore too, especially if you make it to the top, where you get a great view of the surrounding park, Vltava River and of course the historic centre of Prague and Charles Bridge.

Once you see the Kampa Museum, there is also lot’s more to see at Kampa Island, like the David Cerny’s Crawling Babies statues, the row of Yellow Penquins on Vltava river, which light up at night and a large Chair in the middle of Vltava River.

If you are feeling peckish after seeing all that art, the Cafe at the Scout’s Institute Rybarna is my favourite as you can take your food and drink and sit by the river watching the boats (and often listen to the music sessions at the cafe).

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What to see inside Kampa Museum

One of the museum’s highlights is the extensive collection of works by František Kupka, a pioneer of abstract art. He created colourful and abstract paintings and they are permanently displayed at the gallery.

Appart from the permanent collection, the Kampa Museum also puts on different exhibitions, which often explore current themes and trends in the art world.

Some of the previous temporary exhibitions included Yoko Ono, Frank Malina, Joseph Beuys, Matěj Krén, Julian Opie, Piet Mondrian, Theodor Pištěk and Andy Warhol.

There are also interesting statues in the museum courtyard, which seems to change from time to time and I find that there is always something new when I visit.

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Museum Shop

The museum shop is great for picking up unusual art souvenirs from Prague, including a wide range of art exhibition catalogues, magazines, books, postcards and posters.

Sovovy Mlýny Restaurant

The Sovovy Mlýny Restaurant is at the back of the Kampa Museum facing the Vltava river. Its main theme is the renaissance of Czech cuisine — a modern interpretation of traditional Czech dishes and you can enjoy your meal in very pretty surroundings with the view of Charles Bridge.

How long to allocate for your visit

I’ve visited the Kampa Museum several times, so now I tend to spend more time visiting the temporary exhibitions, but I’d say that you might need about one and half to two hours to see everything.

If you’re an art enthusiast who enjoys spending time reading exhibition texts, watching multimedia presentations, or browsing the museum shop, you may want to allow two and a half to three hours.

Once you see the museum, you can also enjoy a leisurely walk in the Kampa park and stop for coffee or lunch at the Sovovy Mlýny Restaurant next door. Afterwards I usually walk by the Lennon Wall to Lesser Town Square or directly over the little stream to Sokol Institute to see the latest David Cerny modern installation called ‘Vera’.

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