The Real Image
Since the very beginnings of the medium, artists have used the apparent documentary quality of photomechanically reproduced images as a tool for manipulation and play. Whether altered mechanically in the darkroom or digitally, the “real” image is often subsequently manipulated for a variety of purposes, acquiring a new meaning that was not part of the original intention at the moment the shutter was released. In other cases, photographic documentation appropriated from the media is used artistically in montages, serving as a medium of wordless political critique.
As part of the broader exhibition series Conversations on Reproductions, which juxtaposes the history of photomechanical reproduction with contemporary artistic reflections on it, this exhibition explores photography’s power of persuasion. The installation examines how the meaning of images changes when still photographs are incorporated into time-based media, and how the photographic image—and its seemingly documentary nature—can challenge our understanding of the world as we (seemingly) know it.
Info
Artists | Sami Al-Salamoni, Valentýna Janů, Kvet Nguyen, André Feliciano
Curator | Meghan Forbes
Duration | 9 September – 22 November 2026
Opening | 8 September 2026, 6 pm
Venue | Center for Contemporary Arts Prague, Galerie Kurzor
Address | Dukelských hrdinů 500/25a, 170 00 Prague
Opening hours | Wed–Sun; 12:00–6:00 pm
Guided Tour for Seniors
Elpida is a Czech non-profit organisation that has been helping people age actively and with dignity for more than 20 years. Through its educational and cultural centres in Prague, it offers a wide range of courses, creative workshops, lectures, and community activities for older adults. Elpida also operates the free Senior Helpline, publishes Vitalmagazine, runs the OLD’s COOL podcast, and develops projects that challenge stereotypes about ageing while fostering creativity, learning, and intergenerational dialogue.
The Applied Photography studio at FUD UJEP – Photosynthesis
An outdoor exhibition in the refugium of the Botanic Garden of the Faculty of Science, Charles University presents projects by students of the Applied Photography Studio at FUD UJEP. The assignment was inspired by a conservation program for endangered plant species developed in cooperation with the Union of Botanical Gardens of the Czech Republic. Disappearing flora that can no longer reproduce independently in the wild and whose survival depends on human intervention became the subject of open-ended artistic interpretation.
Apple Harvest
Fotograf Zone Festival and Prague City Gallery invite visitors to take part in a shared apple harvest in the orchards of Troja Château. On selected festival days, visitors can come and pick apples from the local orchard and spend time in the gardens, which are usually perceived primarily as part of a cultural heritage site. In connection with this year’s festival theme, Wild Kin, we see the apple harvest as a small celebration of sharing, seasonality, and the mindful use of natural resources—and as a reminder that our relationships with places and landscapes are also formed through ordinary, everyday activities.