Kateřina Melenová

She was born into an artistic family and spent her childhood in a theater (Studio Ypsilon). The theater world enchanted her so much that she also joined her professional life with him. She graduated in Directing and Dramaturgy from the Faculty of Arts of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Prof. Jan Schmid in 1986. After graduation, she founded an independent theater ensemble STUDIO DELL ‘ARTE. In České Budějovice, she also began to devote herself to the realization of theatrical spaces – she realized the scene Theater Pod Čepicí, led the conversion of the national cultural monument SOLNICE into a cultural club and participated in the creation of the most modern cultural center in South Bohemia – BAZILIKA. She subsequently led the premises as a director until 2008. After leaving České Budějovice, she started working as an independent expert in the field of arts management and as a developer of development, operational and program studies. In 2008 – 2013 she was a member of the Council of Arts of the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic. In addition, she worked in the preparatory team of the Pilsen city candidacy for the title of European Capital of Culture 2015. After successfully earning this degree, she worked as a regional program manager in this project. Here she also implemented one of the eight main program events of the Pilsen European Capital of Culture 2015 – the 9th BAROQUE WEEKLY festival.

After finishing the project in Pilsen, she gave up her successful career in culture and embarked on an unexpectable path. Many years of studying the work of C.G. Jung led her to the need to pursue the discovery and care of the soul. She uses ancient techniques of the action of fragrances on the psyche and created an original therapeutic method of aromatic art therapy. She founded the ARCHA VŮNÍ Gallery, which she runs in Prague. She embedded her lifelong enchantment in the Renaissance into the creation of the modern form of the Renaissance fragrance jewel POMANDER and her biggest life project – the rescue of the renowned OMLENIČKA CHATEAU in South Bohemia.