They told us that here is Kladno, and it was, is and will be red
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Jiří Hanke was born on 15 April 1944 in Kladno, where he lived his whole life. His father Jiří left his position as a clerk at the labour office after the February coup to work at Poldovka, or Poldi Kladno steelworks. His mother worked first as a cashier in a large factory, then as a handler in the cable radio. Because young Jiří Hanke liked nature, after his grammar school studies he enrolled at the Faculty of Science of Charles University. He passed the exams, but due to the high number of applicants he was offered a place at the Faculty of Agriculture. After half a year he preferred to play the guitar and left the school. He found a job in the Czech Savings Bank in Kladno, playing in several bands. In 1968 he married Jiřina, an artist, who gave his life a new direction. He became interested in art, turned from a guitarist to a committed songwriter, organized concerts, created collages, took photographs and, last but not least, founded and curated the Small Gallery of Česká spořitelna (Savings Bank) in Kladno. As it was not officially a gallery, but the decoration of the savings bank, which he took care of as its employee, Jiří Hanke avoided censorship. The gallery gradually became a recognized venue for artists who could not exhibit elsewhere. At the same time, Jiří Hanke devoted himself to his own photographic work - documentary and portrait photography. His work was often censored for its rawness and casualness - his photographic collections began to be published in books only after the November Revolution in 1989. After the end of his cooperation with Česká spořitelna in 2019, he was offered a space in the Kladno Castle Gallery, where he still curates the Cabinet of Photography. In 2025 he lived with his wife in Kladno.
