Art in progress

Slovak Institute, nám. Republiky 1037/3, Prague 1, 110 00

Curator: Naďa Kančevová

Exhibiting authors:

Professors of the department: Matúš Cepka, Patrik Illo, Jana Machatová, Palo Macho, Markéta Nováková, Daniel Piršč, Kristýna Španihelová, Karol Weisslechner

Graduates and students: Jana Nemethová Bálik, Kristína Blišťanová, Lucia Bartková Čiernik, Peter Ďuriš, Eva Hudecová, Barbora Jamrichová, Simona Janišová, Kristína Kollarovicsová, Igor Kováč, Viktor Kováč, Lucia Kováčiková, Michaela Stanová Koprdová, Vladimíra Labudová, Katarína Raškovičová, Zuzana Svatíková, Zuzana Šuleřová, Viktor Tabiš

The Department of Applied Arts (hereinafter referred to as the Department of AA) at the AFAD is defined as the department of arts, crafts and Design, covering studies in three art media: ceramics, glass and jewelry. From the very definition of the department, it is clear that the specialization of studios emphasizes the work with specific material, which can now be perceived as a challenge to increasingly dematerialized art and virtual design. In addition to knowledge of materials and "craftsmanship", however, the department also gives students space to deal with topics seemingly unrelated to the subject of their study: from conceptual approaches to the use of new materials and the discovery of new technologies. Students are encouraged to explore, experiment, search for connections between art and "craft" and at the same time be aware of the historical and social context of their own work.

Although in the current post-media era the “applied” and “fine” art tends to be considered as two connected vessels, the Department of the UU still has its specifics: In addition to a wide range of imagination and the ability to materialize their own visions and ideas into the final object / product / work, its graduates must also have knowledge across various other disciplines.  Their methods thus often combine the work of an artist, designer, technologist and other professions, falling outside the traditionally understood categories of art. The presented exhibition Art at Progress at the Slovak Institute in Prague also responds to this current need for multidisciplinarity.

Despite the plurality of approaches and directions of professors, graduates and students of the department, we could consider the unifying moment of their work as a sense of experimentation and the search for innovative solutions, often with overlaps with other disciplines. As several exhibited works show, experimentation with materials and technologies is often a decisive element of expression of a work / object, while the very choice of material and the method of its processing sometimes results in a concept. The exhibition thus suggests that even objects marked "useful" may hide current themes, symbols of the time or social criticism. This aspect then makes it possible to place “applied media" / design in a broader cultural context and to push the boundaries between “applied” and "artistic".

The exhibition as a whole is a document and testimony about the unceasing creative process, about inspiration through history and its revival in new themes, about conceptual and analytical thinking, about finding the essence of things on the border of art and design, but also about establishing dialogue between authors and viewers.

* The exhibition is realized on the occasion of the jubilee year 2021 - the Year of Slovak Design.

Naďa Kančevová