Critically Endangered Phenomena of Our Dialects

A multimedia exhibition exploring the richness and diversity of Czech dialects, running from 4 March to 15 June 2026 at the Gallery of Science and Art of the Czech Academy of Sciences on Národní Street 3 in Prague. The exhibition marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Institute for the Czech Language at the Academy of Sciences and offers free admission.

The exhibition showcases the wealth of Czech dialectal variation while highlighting their gradual decline and presenting findings from scientific research. At its core are dialect maps capturing both the most endangered and still-living dialectal phenomena. A key feature is an interactive sound map with authentic recordings—both older and newer audio documents demonstrate how dialects have changed over the past fifty years.

The exhibition is complemented by animations, visual materials, audio guides, and educational resources for school use. Visitors can answer quiz questions about dialects and participate in ongoing dialect mapping through the website mapovaninareci.cz, which has already engaged over 6,000 respondents. The exhibition was created by researchers from the Dialectology Department of the Institute for the Czech Language in Brno and specialists from the Department of Geoinformatics at Palacký University in Olomouc. Open weekdays 10:00–18:00.