Digital watches
7. 3. – 6. 6. 2023

The exhibition, entitled Digital watches, will present to the public a collection of 264 pieces of wristwatches with electric and electronic movement, quartz (silicon) oscillator or controlled by remote signal and partly using a digital time indicator, produced between the 1950s and 1990s. This collection, which has been part of the museum’s Clock collection since 2020, is undoubtedly the most comprehensive and representative material documentation of the modern era of the development of the watch as an everyday object that has accompanied mankind in unprecedented numbers since the 1970s, at least in the Czech Republic.

The collection has been added to the collection of the Technical Museum in Brno thanks to the long-term cooperation with the passionate, dedicated and deeply erudite collector and watchmaking expert, engineer Libor Hovorka. The collection includes watches from the following countries: the USA, Germany (GDR and Germany), Czechoslovakia, USSR, Switzerland, Great Britain, Poland, Bulgaria, Japan, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong. Thanks to this, the visitors of the exhibition “Digital” can not only admire the individual exhibits, but also get an overview of the worldwide chronological development of this segment of wristwatches.

Did you know that the first digital watch with an LED dipole made its world premiere in 1971? It was a product of the American company Hamilton called Pulsar. Digital watches with LED display were then produced until the mid-1980s.

Photos from the exhibition, ©Technické muzeum v Brně

Machines of Leonardo da Vinci

In his lifetime, Leonardo da Vinci devoted himself to art, science and technology. It was no exception that one conditioned the other. The exhibition at the Technical Museum in Brno focuses mainly on his technical inventions. It is known, for example, that Leonardo made detailed studies of birds based on his observations and then designed plans for flying machines based on them. His diaries also contain military inventions, everyday objects (calculator, drill) and much more.

The exhibition, entitled Leonardo da Vinci’s Machines, offers a selection of more than fifty models of da Vinci’s machines, created by Italian craftsmen exactly according to his plans and designs. Visitors can test the functionality of some of them (e.g. hoist, ball bearing, flywheel, mirror chamber), while other machines can be viewed up close. These include, for example, a slewing crane, a steam cannon, a self-propelled carriage (automobile). In addition to these models, the exhibition also offers reproductions of famous da Vinci paintings such as the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper, The Lady with the Prism and others. All this will be complemented by information panels and audiovisual projections.

The exhibition is organized by the Technical Museum in Brno in cooperation with the ARANEUS production company.

Photo from the exhibition, ©Technical Museum in Brno

Mediální partner výstavy

The exhibition on the history of enamelling and its various techniques. It is the very first exhibition on this subject of such an extent in the Czech Republic.

The exhibition presents historical development of enamelling and a whole range of enamelling techniques, its variability and ability to adapt to the actual trends of the given period and culture. Various enamelled objects will be on display, ranging from small archaeological findings, through jewelry up to liturgical objects and coronation regalia. The second part of the exhibition focuses on technical usage of enamelling like e. g. household utensils or the industrial use of enamel.

The exhibition also shows restoration of historical objects decorated with enamel and also presents works of contemporary artists. It also includes an interactive part for both children and adults.

The exhibition lasts from 31 October, 2017 to 3 June, 2018.

Only during the first month of the exhibition, i.e. from August 31 till November 30, 2017, the replica of the crown of the Holy Roman Empire will be on display.

The museum prepared the exhibition in cooperation not only with a lot of local institutions (museums, galeries, producer of enamelled products) but also with foreign ones, e.g. British Museum, Victoria & Albert Museum, Museum Cyprus, Kunsthistorishes Museum Wien.

The exhibition is held under the auspices of the Minister of Culture Mr. Daniel Herman.