Oblastní galerie Vysočiny v Jihlavě
Komenského 10, Jihlava
The expression once upon a time represents a traditional introduction to orally transmitted stories in many cultures, including the Czech one. It has its roots in ancient times and was already then used to open narratives of various kinds, preparing the listener for the transition into the world of fantasy. The mutually contradictory abbreviation personifies a paradox based on uncertainty and ambivalence, because logically speaking it reflects the fact that something can be true and false, or real and unreal at the same time. Thus, in a second plan, it suggests that a story, although perhaps set in a fabricated setting, may be based on real events, experiences, patterns of behaviour or truths that have been forgotten, distorted and thus not fully legible over time or due to circumstances. Thus, although the elements are transformed to create a fantastic story, it still bears traces of reality. The swing of meaning embodied in the phrase once upon a time can thus serve as a kind of incantation, as a bridge between reality and fantasy, between historical truth or archetype written into the everyday and the metaphor of the general story. And this quality is also the main theme of the exhibition. Five visual artists of the younger generation, each in their own distinctive way, compose fragments of stories on the borderline between reality and fiction, which suggest rather than describe, in order to make people think and look for deeper meaning not only in them but also around them.
Radka Bodzewicz / Klaudie Hlavatá / Sabina Knetlová / Anna Ruth / Moemi Yamamoto
Curator: Radek Wohlmuth
