The Competition Has Begun. Mladá Boleslav's New Main Railway Station Will Get a Unique Work of Art.
Press release, 10 February 2026:
The space around the renovated main railway station in Mladá Boleslav will be enriched by a new work of art. The ŠKODA AUTO Endowment Fund (NFŠA) is launching an art competition for the design and creation of a work that will become a natural part of public space and a symbol of the gateway into the city. The project is being delivered in cooperation with Správa železnic (the Czech Railway Infrastructure Administration) and under the expert oversight of respected figures from the Czech visual arts scene.
For decades, the main railway station in Mladá Boleslav was seen more as a neglected corner of the city than as its dignified gateway. The ongoing renovation of the station building, carried out by Správa železnic, is now an opportunity to change both its role and the way it is perceived. The station is set to become the place of first and last contact between travellers and the city — a kind of threshold of Mladá Boleslav.
The genius loci of Mladá Boleslav
The competition brief was also shaped by the public. Almost 20 local figures from social, cultural and professional life took part, answering questions about the past and present of Mladá Boleslav, its identity, its strengths and challenges, and their ideas about its future. The answers painted a picture of a city of striking contrasts — historical and modern, economically strong yet socially complex, anonymous and at the same time a community.
Recurring themes pointed to values to build on — education, technical inventiveness, entrepreneurship and a relationship with the natural environment around the confluence of the Jizera and Klenice rivers, which lies on the route between the station and the city centre. There was also a hope that Mladá Boleslav could become a confident, modern and pleasant city with high-quality public spaces that support meeting, creativity and individual identity.
Applications open until mid-March
The call for artists therefore invites a work that can engage with the themes of movement, transformation, contrast, memory and identity, with the ambition of opening a dialogue about what Mladá Boleslav is and what it would like to be in the future.
“The main railway station is one of the most important public spaces in the city — every day a great many people pass through it, and for many it is their first image of Mladá Boleslav. As the ŠKODA AUTO Endowment Fund we initiated this competition because we have long worked to create high-quality public spaces and want to help bring culture with lasting impact. We believe that a work of art at the station can help transform the way this place is perceived, respond to the city's particular identity and strengthen people's relationship to a space they use every day,” says Ladislav Kučera, Director of the ŠKODA AUTO Endowment Fund.
The competition is announced as a restricted, single-stage and non-anonymous competition. Applications can be submitted until Friday 13 March. The jury will then select five participants who will be invited to develop their proposals. The submission of competition proposals and the subsequent in-person presentations to the jury will take place at the end of May 2026.
Applications can be submitted via the form HERE.
The estimated investment cost of realising the winning proposal is up to CZK 3 million. The artwork is scheduled for completion by April 2027.
The jury is composed of independent experts from the fields of contemporary visual art, architecture and curatorial practice, supplemented by representatives of NFŠA and Správa železnic. The competition is organised by the Centre for Central European Architecture (CCEA), with the Foundation for Contemporary Art Prague as expert guarantor. The project is carried out in cooperation with Správa železnic and under the auspices of Mayor of Mladá Boleslav Jiří Bouška.
Visualisations of the new station are available for download here: https://www.uschovna.cz/zasilka/UIU7CV5M8JVJ4UH4-NGY/
