Days of Unearthing
May 25, 2022 – August 19, 2022
Czech Center Vienna, Herrengasse 17, Vienna, Austria
Artists: Alex Macedo, Ann-Sophie Gehrig, Anna Holínská, Anna Kazantseva, Antonie Zichová, Barbara Novorodá, Bety Krňanská, Chattip Metchanun, Christian Gailer, Daniil Tsvetkov, Dimitrij Mandzyuk, Ei Ozawa, Elena Altaba Herrán, Emil Puchner, Evgeny Tantsurin, Evelyn Vonesch, Franky Daubenfeld, Hanna Schmidt, Jorinna Girschik, Juliana Castaño, Kaleb Christian, Lavanya Thakur, Lio Bonher, Leonie Plattner, Lisa Maria Wirzel, Lizaveta Hrydziushka, Lucia Schwemer, Lucie Brskovská, Ludovico Scalmani, Lukáš Šmejkal, Marcia Schmidt, Marie Fidesser & Marei Buhmann, Marielena Stark, Markéta Dočkalová, Martina Staňková, Masha Kovtun, Matěj Racek, Naomi Shintani Deibel, Nicolas Garaj, Nikola Kopp Lourková, PoL…, Radim Pergl, Sara Bojovic, Sara Roeth, Sarah Buhmann, Sebastian Mittl, Selana Ayşe Türgen, Šenay Kobak, Šimon Dub, Tamara Pauknerová, Vannesa Schmidt, Yaël Fidesser, Yoon A Lee
"Days of Unearthing" was a cross-border artistic collaboration between two major universities and its two painting departments – UMPRUM in Prague and Die Angewandte in Vienna. It brought together 53 artists and gave rise to the collaborative work (book) Atlas of Unearthing with more than 150 original works. The exhibition thus presented the contemporary art scenes of both Central European capitals and, in addition to the main exhibition rooms, also took visitors to the underground of the venue. The Czech audience will have the opportunity to see the continuation of the project, “Room for Unearthing”, in winter 2023 in Prague.
Starting in high spring and reaching toward vivid summer, the Czech Center in Vienna has become a contrasting time capsule of different journeys. The new rooms, corners and compartments are lenses for catching sight of the stages that these wanderings have passed through. And you, our dear visitor, are welcome to orient yourself throughout these scenes with the help of the map in your hands. Begin the quest, find sensible differences and ephemeral bonds throughout this agglomeration of perspectives and individual abstractions. In case you find yourself too disoriented, feel free to consult the Atlas of Unearthing to restart your journey.
The exhibition is an accumulation of fragments, mementos and evidence of particular adventures, journeys, or quests which have been investigated by the artists. The unfolding of these different parts within the Czech Center has been carefully considered so as to allow each visitor enough space to form her own understanding.
A work of art can be perceived as a remnant of a specific period: it can be understood as an artifact that is part of a certain process or as a result of that process. What can be seen in the Czech Center in Vienna, is an interplay of these two situations. The art artifacts of the two painting departments (lead by Jiří Černický in Prague and by Henning Bohl in Vienna) create a time capsule, in which these are perceived as relics of an era and where the groups themselves become „relics“ of a young generation of contemporary artists working in Central Europe.
The link that connects the exhibited relics is the Atlas of Unearthing, a book created by the students of both classes. The Atlas serves not only as a complementary guide or catalog of archival data to the exhibition itself but also as its own relic, which will remain a material residue (an actual relic of a specific time).
The group exhibition is thus divided into two thought-spaces: the cellar (underground) containing The Atlas (inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin, who retells the story of human origin by redefining technology; that is, no longer weapons like the spear, but carrier bags are of decisive importance) and the main exhibition space which is presented on three levels of immanence: separation; initiation; descent and return. Despite being based on Joseph Campbell's fantasy of the monomyth (the so-called „hero’s journey“), these stages frame relics of various paths with a scope that overcomes the normative heroic perspective. Like this, we want to focus on an examination of today's heterogenous micro odysseys and its inherent contradictions.
In co-curation with Daniel Hüttler.
Graphic design: Winona Hudec
Exhibition architecture: Martin Eichler
Installation: Marie Teufel a Pia Bauer
The exhibition was based on a cooperation of Eva Slabá and Daniel Hüttler, Czech Center in Vienna, and the painting departments of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (UMPRUM) and the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
