Czechs and Slovaks to Hold 1st Joint Exhibition at Venice Biennale for 20 Years

Prague/Bratislava, 9 April (TASR-correspondent) - Slovakia and the Czech Republic will engage in a joint exhibition project at the Venice Biennale art festival, titled 'The Silence of the Mole', for the first time in 20 years, TASR has learnt from its Prague correspondent. The project was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Czechoslovak Pavilion in Venice. Its presentation is organised by the National Gallery Prague (NGP) in cooperation with the Slovak National Gallery (SNG). The project was presented by its creators and NGP and SNG representatives in Prague on Thursday. The creators are Czech artist Jakub Jansa and Slovak art duo Selmeci Kocka Jusko (female artist Alex Selmeci and artist Tomas Kocka Jusko), with Peter Sit serving as curator. The winning proposal was selected in an open contest by an international jury. They explained that the centre of the project concerns 'Mr M.,' who spent his while life portraying the fictional character of a mole. According to them, the motif of his burrow and character is also a metaphor for how both countries perceive themselves. "The project consists of architecture, film, and subjects ... It will be exhibited as a pavilion within a pavilion. Visitors will enter it through two dark corridors, and once inside they will find themselves in an imaginary mole burrow," said the curator. Michal Novotny, the commissioner of the Czech and Slovak presentation, thanked the Slovak side for their cooperation. "I believe that sharing this pavilion and presenting it together is, in today's increasingly divided world, certainly an important gesture externally, on an international level," he said. The news conference was also attended by SNG artistic director Martin Dostal. According to him, SNG's role in this project was to ensure that the process of developing the project wasn't disrupted in any way. "We acted as a kind of buffer zone ... We believe that this year's Biennale, which is also a joint celebration of the Czechoslovak or Czech and Slovak Pavilion, will be a success," said Dostal, adding that the Slovak side is contributing €250,000 to the project, which is one-third of the necessary funding. The 61st Venice Biennale art festival will take place between 9 May and 22 November. It is held every two years and serves as a global forum for exhibiting and connecting current trends in art. ko/df