What is End-of-term and graduation shows?

End-of-term and graduation shows are public exhibitions of work by students of art schools at the end of a year or of their whole studies. For art lovers they are the first door into the art world: you meet the rising generation up close and can be there at the very start of its journey.

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End-of-term and graduation shows

What are end-of-term and graduation shows?

End-of-term and graduation shows are exhibitions at which students of art schools present their work to the public. The end-of-term work (in Czech klauzura, the final piece for a semester or year) is assessed every year, while the graduation show presents the final projects of those who are leaving the school. The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague (AVU), the country’s oldest art school, founded in 1799, opens all its buildings for its end-of-term show and presents work from all eighteen of its studios. For a few days the whole school turns into one large gallery.

When and where do end-of-term and graduation shows take place?

The season falls at the end of the academic year, roughly from May to July. The AVU graduation show of 2026 ran from 19 to 28 June, admission was free and fifty-one graduates exhibited. Prague’s UMPRUM, the Faculty of Fine Arts at Brno University of Technology (in collaboration with the Brno House of Arts), the Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem and FAMU’s Department of Photography all hold their own shows too. Dates and venues change from year to year, so it pays to follow the schools’ websites and social media.

Why should a collector go to end-of-term and graduation shows?

Because you get to know the artists up close before galleries and the market discover them. You understand their world, what and how they make, and what they are saying through their art. And you can stand at the start of an artist’s journey and enjoy their career with them for years to come. Prices tend to be at their most accessible: smaller works by younger artists can be had in the Czech Republic from roughly ten to fifty thousand crowns. But does a diploma guarantee a career? It does not. Not everyone stays with independent practice, so buy above all with your heart.

How do you start collecting at end-of-term and graduation shows?

Walk through the exhibition without hurrying and notice which works you keep coming back to. When someone catches your eye, get in touch: young artists mostly sell directly and are happy to talk about their work. Ask about the studio they study in, their plans after school and the exhibitions they have had so far. Then follow their career, show by show. At Art Part Club, after all, we often buy works by artists while they are still at school, and then help them grow.

— Anna Pulkertová, founder of Art Part Club