Farewell, Friends!

The exhibition "Farewell, Friends!" at Gong Gallery in Dolní Vítkovice (Multifunctional Hall Gong, Ostrava) commemorates nearly 250 years of mining history in the Ostrava-Karviná region and the Czech Republic. The exhibition was created at a time when, after nearly 250 years, black coal mining in the Ostrava-Karviná basin and throughout the Czech Republic came to an end. It presents a "confession of centuries" – the story of mining in images, artefacts, and memories of mining families. Visitors will see historical photographs, chronicles, books, mining uniforms, guild banners, mining tools, and lamps. The exhibition includes artworks with mining themes by Vilém Wünsche, Ferdiš Duša, Vlastimil Rada, Julie Bérová, František Hřivna, Josef Štoloveský, and others, including a unique giant painting "Miners" by Josef Liesler. A powerful symbol of the exhibition is an outdoor replica of the last black coal cart from the ČSM Mine in Stonavá – coal extraction there was definitively ended on the night shift of January 31, 2026. After the exhibition closes, the replica will be donated to the Mining Museum in Landek Park. A unique artefact is also a charred piece of tree trunk approximately 11 million years old. The exhibition was prepared in collaboration with OKD, a.s. and VÍTKOVICE, a.s. The exhibition is open Tuesday through Sunday, always from 10 to 18 o'clock, and will run until June 7, 2026.