Sufian Massalema – Public Showers

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.