After primary school, Ráček graduated from the Secondary School of Applied Arts in Brno and Uherské Hradiště from 1963 to 1968 . After the Russian occupation in 1968, she and her husband emigrated from Czechoslovakia to Austria. At first she lived and worked in Vienna, in 1978 she moved to Sitzendorf an der Schmida . She is married to the writer Milan Ráček . Between 1981 and 1990 she organized the Sitzendorfer Kulturtage with him, focusing on the culture of the neighbors.
Celtic fairy tales. Breitschopf Verlag, Vienna 1992, ISBN 3-7004-0196-5 .
Exhibitions
1975
Palais Lichtenstein / Feldkirch. Gallery of the bookstore at Heidenschuss / Vienna
1977
Galleria Montaner / Treviso, House of Encounters / Munich, DE
1986
›Myths of Prehistory‹, Museum of Prehistory in Asparn / Lower Austria
1991
Palais Dietrichstein / Brno, CZ. Gallery at the wine cellar / Vienna
1993
underground passages in Retz, as part of the state exhibition at Riegersburg Castle / Lower Austria
1996
Baroque castle Mistelbach / Lower Austria
1999
Summer festival in Gossam / Lower Austria
2000
Museum of Modern Art / Prague. Natureum Niederelbe / DE
2001
Kulturní Centrum / Brno, CZ. Gallery Zámek / Buchlovice, CZ
2002
Exhibition ›Terrea Arte‹ as part of an event of the European Union in the Slovak representation in Brussels
2006
Foyer of the Urania / Vienna
2007
Landart installation in the art space Immendorf / Lower Austria
Works
1988
Altarpiece for the seminary in Hollabrunn / Lower Austria
2003
Design and execution of a monumental sculpture made of round wood and tamped earth, the gateway to the Neolithic in Puch / Lower Austria
2004
Design of four three meter high wall reliefs in the clay passive house of the company ›Natur und Lehm‹ in Tattendorf / Lower Austria
Conception and implementation of the art project ›Höhlenwelten‹ as part of the Weinviertel Festival / Lower Austria
Symposia
1998-2007
Participation in international art symposia in Wetzdorf Castle / Lower Austria
Pöchlarn / Lower Austria ›Atelier on the Danube‹
Hodonín / Czech Republic ›Small Format‹
Falkenstein / Lower Austria ›Courage to Gap‹
Educational activity
Artistic consultant and seminar leader for rural development in Lower Austria, the Montessori workshop in the Wachau and the Lower Austria Pedagogical Academy.
Honourings and prices
1978
Acknowledgment award from the Lower Austrian state government for children's book illustration.
1992
Recognition award from the Lower Austrian state government for the organization of cultural, cross-sectoral events.
2001
Appreciation award from the Lower Austrian state government for cross-border projects.
Quotation from the publication "50 Years of Culture Awards in Lower Austria": ... Irena Ráček works with earth colors, has made installations in earth stables and caves. "I like the earth", says Rácek, and she likes preoccupation with prehistoric times. "We have shared history for many millennia, and only what separates us from 1918 is emphasized." Irena Ráček makes this shared history slumbering in the earth visible with art events in the Czech Republic and Austria. She is currently in charge of the Czech-Austrian project "Painting with the colors of the earth", which deals with the soil in a multi-faceted manner - as our most important resource, as a place where shared history is found and as artistic material that appeals to children in particular.
2009
Awarded the professional title of Professor.
Catalogs
7. Monstra Internazionale d´Illustrazione per l`Infanca (1989), Bologna.
8. Monstra Internazionale d´Illustrazione per l`Infanca (1990), Bologna.
11. Monstra Internazionale d´Illustrazione per l`Infanca (1993), Bologna.
11. Exposición Internacional de Illustraciones para Ninos (1994), Seville.
Irena Ráček (1996), Lower Austrian State Museum, Vienna.
In the sign of the circle (2000), catalog for the international art symposium, Wetzdorf Castle.
Terrea Arte (2002), Slovak Representation in the EU, Brussels.
Artists in the Weinviertel (2005), Niederösterreichisches Kulturforum, St. Pölten.
Atelier an der Donau (2006), catalog for the international art symposium, Pöchlarn.
Czech Art in Exile (2010), Philosophy Faculty of Palacký University in Olomouc
