This dissertation examines a significant and heretofore unrecognized phenomenon: that during the prewar period many of Austria-Hungary's ethnic minorities staged international exhibitions of modern art as a way of shaping cultural sovereignty Taking the case of Prague in 1900-1914 as its focus, my study proposes that the construction of the city's first independent art pavilion and the exhibition of modern art by contemporary European artists served an important function for its Czech founders. It challenged Prague's position on the social periphery and redefined the city as a cultural center. By examining the history of the pavilion and its exhibitions together with their public reception, I investigate the role of modern art exhibitions in the process of cultural transformation in Central Europe.