Qubus: The Beautiful Beast is the first comprehensive and scholarly presentation of the independent studio and eponymous design brand Qubus. Within Jan Fabián’s artist’s installation, the curators narrate the story of a studio that stood in 2002 at the origins of the so-called „new wave“ of new Czech design, presenting works situated at the intersection of fine art, applied art, and design.

A selection of collections from 2002–2025 is complemented by original collector’s pieces, limited editions, prototypes, archival materials, and an original audiovisual presentation of projects in interior design, exhibition architecture, and public space.

Exhibiting artists and designers: Qubus / Jakub Berdych Karpelis, Maxim Velčovský, Cockerel, glazmo research, Daniel Gonzáles, Patrik Illo, Silvie Luběnová, Milan Pekař, Karel Štědrý, Antonín Tomášek, Josef Tomšej, Hana Vítková, and others.

Through its activities, Studio Qubus has perceptively and originally captured the transformation of post-revolutionary Czech design, while at the same time redefining the very role of the designer within the contemporary cultural and social environment. Especially after 2010, Qubus’s work has been characterised by an intensive dialogue with fine art; the exhibition itself reinforces this tendency through Jan Fabián’s installation design. The exhibition arrangement does not merely create a conventional framework but actively intervenes in the meaning of the exhibited objects, placing them in new contexts where authorial creation at the boundary of design and art encounters materials and objects bearing distinct traces of the past.

Founded in 2002, Qubus represents a phenomenon encompassing both a studio and a brand with its own production, showroom, and design shop, as well as a distinctive lifestyle and mindset. Through its unorthodox approach—characteristic in every respect—it connects fine and applied art. Its collector’s objects and everyday design products are renowned for their inventive character, which, through irony, wit, and intellectual depth, pushes the boundaries of personal taste. Central to Qubus is the principle of elevating the ordinary and maintaining a high level of craftsmanship in traditional materials such as glass, stone, and porcelain, produced in local workshops in collaboration with master artisans across disciplines. All products are handmade in the Czech Republic. Qubus has thus become a strong brand recognised both nationally and internationally, making a significant contribution to the global presentation of Czech design.

The exhibition is held on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the studio’s founding. It will culminate in the launch of a Czech-English monograph featuring essays by leading experts, archival materials, a complete list of realised projects, and a comprehensive catalogue of works.

The exhibition on the first floor is accompanied by QUBUS: APPENDIX, an installation in the museum foyer presenting a selection of four lighting objects, a sculptural piece, and a video as a representative insight into a lesser-known dimension of the work of Studio Qubus and its founder, sculptor and designer Jakub Berdych Karpelis.

Exhibition curators: Iva Knobloch, Marcela Straková, Radek Wohlmuth
Artist’s installation: Jan Fabián
Visual collaboration: Jakub Berdych Karpelis
Graphic design: Kristina Ambrozová