The Lidice Art Collection has received a significant donation from the Turkey-based Nahit & Huma Kabakcı Collection (NHK Collection). The donation ceremony, held on Thursday, October 30, was attended by representatives of the Lidice Memorial, the NHK Collection, and renowned collector René Block.
Founded in memory of the Czech village of Lidice, which was destroyed by Nazi Germany, the Lidice Memorial Museum hosts the Lidice Art Collection (LAC)—a public collection dedicated to memory, resilience, and solidarity. The donation from the NHK Collection includes 65 artworks by artists such as Ara Güler, Alexander Kosolapov, Babi Badalov, Edin Numankadić, František Burant, Ferruh Başağa, Gia Gugushvili, Işıl Eğrikavuk, Sabina Shikhlinskaya, and Volkan Aslan, among others. The contribution marks one of Huma Kabakcı’s most meaningful collaborations in recent years and significantly enhances the collection’s international scope.
Strengthening Cultural Bonds
The donation ceremony, moderated by Miloslav Vorlíček, Curator of the Lidice Art Collection, featured Huma Kabakcı (representing the NHK Collection), Dr. Eduard Stehlík (Director of Lidice Memorial), Marek Pokorný(Director of PLATO Ostrava), and the German curator and collector René Block, known for curating the inaugural exhibition of VKV-founded ARTER in Istanbul.
Dr. Stehlík described the donation as “an extraordinary act of generosity that reinforces the collection’s vision as an inclusive, solidarity-driven public institution.”
Photo: Lukáš Havlena
From left to right: Dr. Eduard Stehlík – Director of the Lidice Memorial; Huma Kabakcı – Curator of the NHK Collection; René Block – German gallerist and the Lidice Art Collection’s largest donor; Marek Pokorný – Director of PLATO Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Huma Kabakcı emphasized the emotional and collective aspect of the donation:
“This is both a personal and collective gesture. I wanted to bring my father Nahit Kabakcı’s vision—of art as a bridge of empathy and solidarity across generations and geographies—into the public sphere. By donating over 60 works from the NHK Collection to the Lidice Memorial, I aim to let these works transcend the walls of a private collection and reach wider audiences. The fact that Lidice stands as a symbol of resistance and remembrance makes this collaboration even more meaningful.”
This donation not only strengthens the Lidice Art Collection’s mission of solidarity and remembrance but also deepens the cultural ties between Turkey and the broader Turkic-speaking world.
Expanding the Mission of the Lidice Art Collection
Founded in the spirit of solidarity, the Lidice Art Collection continues to grow as a public resource for research, exhibitions, and education. The NHK donation will help expand its curatorial projects, public programs, and residency initiatives supporting underrepresented curators.
Curator Miloslav Vorlíček noted:
“This gift broadens our core mission: to preserve a public, solidarity-based collection for future generations. It strengthens our curatorial and educational work while opening new paths for research and cultural dialogue between Central Europe and Turkic art ecosystems.”
The ceremony, which highlights the Lidice Collection’s historical mission of public and collective cultural engagement since the 1960s, can be rewatched on the Lidice Art Collection’s YouTube channel.
About the Lidice Art Collection (LAC)
The Lidice Memorial was established to commemorate the village of Lidice, destroyed by Nazi Germany on June 10, 1942. Today, it operates as a public museum dedicated to democracy, solidarity, and peace. Founded in the 1960s by British MP Sir Barnett Stross through the solidarity of artists, the Lidice Art Collection includes works by Gerhard Richter, Mona Hatoum, Joseph Beuys, VALIE EXPORT, and Alfredo Jaar, and continues to focus on themes of memory, resistance, and collective action.
About the NHK Collection
Formed since the 1980s, the Nahit & Huma Kabakcı Collection comprises over 900 works by more than 200 artists. Built upon Nahit Kabakcı’s visionary approach and expanded through Huma Kabakcı’s curatorial leadership, it is regarded as one of Turkey’s most thoughtfully assembled private art collections.
