About me

Moreover, it is a journey that is ever evolving. None of us are who we were an hour ago. Perhaps an hour ago, we were someone slightly different. Pragmatically speaking, at the very least, our present self is separated from our self an hour ago by one hour. And, suddenly, it's starting to get all the more interesting and complicated. How does our self change over time? And how can all this be captured?

For this issue, we have decided to look at authors who pose such questions and who additionally have the ability to visually reflect them in a manner that is interesting to us, thus pushing the boundaries of visual and personal expression. Emília Rigová has long examined the theme of the position of the Roma minority, of which she is a part, and by working with her own physicality, she emphasises the voice of the Roma, which has long tended to be deliberately pushed to the sidelines by the majority of society. Libuše Jarcovjáková has dealt with photographic self-reflection in an intuitive and thus highly convincing manner since a young age, and her success has been compounded this year by a film entitled I'm Not Everything I Want to Be, comprised purely of photographs and diary entries capturing the ideological tension of collapsing socialism, as well as LGBTQ+ life in subcultures.

A strong line is also formed by the theme of gender and queer identity woven into the works of Dorota Franková, Robert Gabris, Sasha Chaika, František Fekete, and Shalva Nikvashvili. Observation of one's own body, revelation of one's sexuality, existential questions – all this is often captured in moments of searching, of questioning or in situations that are difficult, painful, and pivotal for the creator. They can be all the more compelling for us, the audience. The original artistic autotherapy, which generally requires a considerable amount of courage to reveal oneself, can thus become therapy for society – by opening up to new issues. Let's let those in question talk about themselves.

Markéta Kinterová
editor-in-chief