2024-05-08 04:01:08
Current topics such as threats to democracy, the climate crisis, intolerance towards minorities and war are addressed in the exhibition called Group Therapy, which began in Prague’s Dom U Kamenného zvonu. It runs until August 11 and includes around 80 works by 46 artists from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc.
The Prague City Gallery organized the project in cooperation with the German company Deutsche Telekom. Most of the paintings, drawings, sculptures and videos come from her collection, which has been in existence since 2010. The Prague gallery supplemented them with pieces from its collections. Another was created specifically for the purposes of the exhibition, the name of which is derived from one of the works of the artist Eva Koťátková presented here.
The show is divided into several thematic sections. One focuses on the fragility of democracy and the power of manipulation or authoritarian regimes. It opens with the painting Néco je… 2 by Daniel Balabán, in which less than a dozen figures point their faces to the sky, from which pieces of ash are falling. The work from 2022 was created as a reaction to the tragic situation of Ukrainians attacked by the Russians.
Painting Something is… 2 by Daniel Balabán from 2022. | Photo: Jan Kolský
Diary entries from February 2022 by the Ukrainian conceptual artist Alevtina Kachidze or cartoon snapshots from the Ukrainian Maidan by the artist Lesia Chomenko also refer to this war.
Other sections of the exhibition draw attention to the different status of women in Europe, the challenges associated with the development of technology, the environment and the issue of mental health. For example, the self-portraits of the Bosnian artist Šejla Kamerić or the photographs of Igor Grubić go back to the war in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. “Many of the works have become even more relevant in connection with the war conflicts that have flared up in the world,” thinks the director of the Prague gallery, Magdalena Juříková.
According to her, the collection collected by Deutsche Telekom is unique in that it focuses on the post-communist world and its transition to democracy. “The past three decades have made us significantly different, and this is of course reflected in the statements of the artists represented,” he observes.
The exhibition began five years ago, but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. “It is an invitation to dialogue and mutual communication. It is also an opportunity to reflect on a democratic society,” adds Rainald Schumacher, curator of the Deutsche Telekom collection.
His colleague Nathalie Hoyos points out that this is not the first show for which the company has used its collection of almost 350 works. “We are planning a similar one in Bratislava next year,” he adds.
Among other things, visitors can expect the works of Czechs Lenka Glisníková, whose sculptures question the current changes in human lifestyle caused by unregulated technological progress, or Anna Hulačová. Her sculpture, called Agro-Kosmo, depicts an astronaut growing nutrients outside of planet Earth.