Fotograf Zone – Emília Rigová

Just as we peel back layers in works of art, so too can we delve deeply into the identity of an individual. My name is Emília Rigová, also known as Bári Raklóri. I am Emília, I am Bári, I am a woman, I am Roma, I am Slovak, I am European, and I am much more. All these aspects of my identity are also reflected in my work. Each exhibited work is completed by the viewer’s gaze – it is only through this engagement that it comes to life, that it enters reality. The world is not one-dimensional but multi-dimensional, as we all are. A successful interpretation of a work of art, at least for a moment, shatters our conception of the flatness of the world. This is true for me as well. I draw from my own experiences, process them visually, destroy them, and then recreate them. Eventually, my methods transformed into tools for my own metamorphosis. To myself, I am a project – continuously deconstructed and reconstructed in an endless cycle.

All images: Emília Rigová, Muli luludi/ Mŕtva kvetina, 2023

Emília Rigová

(*1980, Trnava) is a visual artist and researcher at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica. Her works reflect her personal identity as a woman, Roma, feminist, intellectual, and activist. They often address history, collective memory, and particularly the archaeology of the Roma culture. In 2018, she became the laureate of the Oskár Čepan Award.

#48 About Me

Let’s talk about ourselves. Let’s explore what we are and discover who we are. This is important because just as it is necessary to look around us, it is essential to look within ourselves. How does our identity change over time? And how can all of this be captured? For this issue, we have chosen to focus on authors who ask similar questions and possess the ability to reflect them visually in compelling ways. Emília Rigová has long explored the position of the Roma minority, using her own physicality to highlight the voice of the Roma people, a voice that is often marginalized. Libuše Jarcovjáková has been involved in photographic self-reflection since a young age, with her photos and diary entries capturing the ideological tension of collapsing socialism and the lives of LGBTQ+ individuals within subcultures. A strong thematic thread emerges in the exploration of gender and queer identity in the works of Dorota Franková, Robert Gabris, Sasha Chaika, František Fekete, and Shalva Nikvashvili. Original artistic autotherapy often requiring significant courage to reveal oneself here transforms into a form of therapy for society.