Jitka Hlaváčková (ed.) – Věštění z noční oblohy částečně zakryté mraky. Role fotografie v postmediální době

#1 min Tomáš Pospěch, Jitka Hlaváčková

29. 1. 2024

#46 TourismBook ReviewPhotobooks

Over time, Czech collection and exhibition institutions have increasingly been devoting more and more space to photography. The GHMP prepared a Czech-English catalogue for the exhibition, which was another attempt to gain insight into contemporary "post-media photography". The curator and editor of the catalogue, Jitka Hlaváčková, in conjunction with 25 Czech and international artists and 12 co-curators, attempted to present today's thinking about photography in the context of art. Above all, they trace the specifics and role of photography in art after it has been absorbed by the internet and social networks, but only in the narrow field of photographing artists. In addition to analyzing the medium of photography, they are interested in the engagement of art in the context of global social movements.

 

Jitka Hlaváčková (ed.) – Věštění z noční oblohy částečně zakryté mraky. Role fotografie v postmediální době, Prague: GHMP 2022

#46 TourismBook ReviewPhotobooksSocietyCuratingDocumentInstitutional critiqueSocial MediaTourism

Tomáš Pospěch

is an art historian and visual artist. He works as a teacher at the Institute of Creative Photography at SU in Opava and as a curator of photography at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. As an art historian, he focuses mainly on photography and contemporary art of Central Europe. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 books, including Eugen Wiškovský, Viktor Kolář, Jindřich Štreit, Jiří Hanke, Jan Jindra, Gustav Aulehla, Jaroslav Pulicar, Pavel Vavroušek and a selection of Josef Koudelka's diaries.

Jitka Hlaváčková

is an art theorist who has been working at the Prague City Gallery since 2006, where she curates the photography and new media collection. Her research focus is the theory of acoustic art, photography, video art, and art that reflects on technology in a post-media context. She also explores “the public language of art”, i.e. current strategies of urban and environmental art in relation to social, gender, and community issues.   

#46 Tourism

It is interesting how much the world of photography is connected with tourism, in other words, how much the two domains may have in common. If we look at them through the lens of a mass phenomenon, they may even be similarly old. And it is in this perspective that a number of controversial questions arise in all their clarity. To what extent has tourism affected many of the coastlines and unique destinations that attract tourists? And to what extent does photography influence our perception of the places we visit?

Tamar Moyzes & Shlomi Yaffe – The Political Power of Mycelium

#5 min Jitka Hlaváčková, Tamara Moyzes, Shlomi Yaffe

Tamar Moyzes & Shlomi Yaffe – The Political Power of Mycelium

#49 Talk TogetherProjectEnvironment

Modern science recognises the underground network of fungal fibres, or mycelium, as the “brain of ecosystems”, an alternative to centralised consciousness. It offers a fertile ground for artistic and philosophical inquiry, stimulating deliberations on types of intelligence, models of communication, and the legitimacy of an anthropocentric worldview. Mycelium – worshipped in the religion of the goddess Lacteria, invented as part of the artistic work of Tamara Moyzes – is an empathetic structure, able to sow the seeds of functional and resilient bonds into the cracks of broken social systems.

Josef Koudelka – Ruins

#2 min Tomáš Pospěch, Josef Koudelka

Josef Koudelka – Ruins

#46 TourismProfileHistory

What will Prague or New York look like in a thousand or two thousand years? My aim here is not to contribute to the dystopian genre, so popular today. But we do have a sufficient historical experience of the emergence and demise of civilizations. It is therefore not so hard to imagine that where New York City used to stand, waves will beat against the remaining concrete foundations of a few skyscrapers and Prague too will be reduced to the ruins of a few of the most significant buildings – if the city isn’t entirely abandoned, that is. Without depicting these scenes directly, such notions might follow from Josef Koudelka’s newest photographic series, titled Ruins.

Food Served to the Camera

#8 min Tomáš Pospěch

Food Served to the Camera

#42 FoodHistoryEnvironment

The ubiquity and primary biological need for food predetermine that food has undoubtedly been photographed by every photographer at some point. Furthermore, "gourmet pictures" enjoy great popularity nowadays. According to surveys, they are among the most liked pictures on Instagram and food bloggers are becoming "celebrities", bringing here joy, there wrinkles to waiters. There is a growing interest in the origin of ingredients, food blogs multiply, reality cooking shows are on TV, and restaurants with an open view of the kitchen pop up increasingly often. We are experiencing a turn in thinking about the appearance of our food and forms of eating.