Rector's Award 2024
This year too, the rector of the AFAD, Bohunka Koklesová, awarded several final diploma works of our students, which she considers to be exceptional, either in their content, realization or courage. We publish individual works with the author's annotations, as well as with the reasons given by the rector.
Norbert Kuki
Philosophy of Vagabondism
video 16:9, 11:45min
Intermedia (Studio of Intermedia)
The aim of the practical part of my diploma work was to uncover different layers of Roma culture for the public and to look for new ways of retelling its stories. I leaned on one of the Romani hymns, which proclaims the legend that the Romani stole a nail from the bleeding palm of Jesus at his crucifixion and were therefore condemned to wander the world forever. I examined this wandering from different angles. I looked for it in several parts of culture, but in the end, I stayed with the most intimate part - language. The Romani language is not stable, it is always traveling and developing. It is even debated which form of it is the right one and which should be used. For my diploma work, I created several rap singles in Romani in collaboration with the local rapper Ronnie. In this way, I wanted to approach the Romani language in an innovative way and show that the Romani language is also capable of other genres than čardás and the like. I even managed to present the songs to the label, who made it clear to me that even though the songs were good, they couldn't be pitched to streaming services because of the language.
"Norbert, I decided to award you the rector's award for your diploma work, which deals with uncovering different layers of Roma culture for society and finding new ways of retelling its stories. You rely on the legend that condemned the Roma to eternal wandering and at the same time you create the context of this legend for the single of the Roma song "Labaren". Through a mainstream, popular Romani song, we get to the Romani language, and in the video, we delve more and more into hypotheses about under what circumstances the Romani language would be global, what impact it would have on the emergence of new full-fledged artistic genres. Roma culture and language is extremely inspiring and is beginning to penetrate fully into the so-called "high art". I'm happy about it." (Bohunka Koklesová)
Simona Novická
Galéné tés psychés
installation 4m x 2.5m, sculpture (mixed media)
Sculpture, object, installation (Studio of free sculpture)
My final master's work is based on a small Ruthenian village and its surroundings located in the northeast of Slovakia. Through spending countless time in this place and observing the natural phenomena and transformations of time, this place inspired me to work with it. It stimulated me to write poems, which are the supporting part of the written work, while the material composition - the ash is the supporting part of the practical work. The written story is a retrospective of personal events that took place in the mentioned place. Deep forests, their transformations and dilapidated houses drew my attention to the transformations of time and its breaks, which naturally occur in their own process without our expectations and planning. These breaks in time carry silences that calm the mind and transport us to the present, to fully experiencing the moment.
"Simona, your work was installed in the Prior department store. In a large space full of artistic, design and architectural works of your classmates. I became more serious about your work because I realized that the unsightly material you use in your work has a deeper context. You primarily use clay and reinforced concrete, you shape some of it with your own efforts or you find it in the urban environment. The relationship between nature and urban space brings a certain type of balance, built on two materialities that overlap each other to express through the so-called "poor material" our future, our life and space." (Bohunka Koklesová)
Peter Šulavík
Hope-ization of matter
5 objects (mixed media), 2 notebooks
Printmaking and other media (Studio of free printmaking)
The diploma work deals with the experience of internal uprightness, or vertical movement in a material (artistic) work. First of all, it is about experiencing physical movement, carried out during conscious manual work during the creation of the work, in contact with matter, but also internal movement, which is no longer entirely carried out by me, but into which the work encourages me with its shape, construction and color trace (evokes voltage to it). I call this process of a kind of verticalization (including of one's own) matter, opening it up and transforming it into a form in which it does not cover, limit, separate, weigh, but on the contrary calls for movement and opens up – I call it a “hope-ization” of matter.
"Peter, when I entered the room where you had installed your work, I knew that you were a serious contender for the rector's award. Your diploma work was extremely impressive, minimalistic in its form, with a strong emphasis on the materiality of the work. Together with your notes, a dialogue was opened here about how we perceive our own body during the realization of the work, how the work itself encourages the body to move in a certain way, often vertical movement. I also read your notes that you had in your theoretical part of the diploma work. I would like to read one entry from your diary - "January 23, 2024: After my morning fight with myself, I looked out the window, it was getting warmer. Wet reflections in the radiant steam, the morning sun. All kernels have softened. I have absolutely everything at every single moment. How much beauty I miss. How much love I miss." (Bohunka Koklesová)
Oksana Sadovenko
Phantasmagoria. "Pigeonland"
Series of paintings on paper and canvas, objects made of paper and paint
Painting (3EAM - Third Expanded Painting Studio)
Phantasmagoria Pigeonland is a painting exploration of the theme of pigeons through a series of large-format paintings on paper and canvas or sculptures - objects made using the papier-mâché technique and covered with acrylic paint. The image of the pigeon is presented in the work by studying the themes of flight, wings, through small pigeons, death, breeding of new breeds, flying machines, feathers, history of pigeons in ancient times, comparison of pigeon and man. The image of a dove is very rich in meaning and is known, for example, as the dove of peace. The work is focused on its transformation from the point of view of dystopia. Through intensive painting study and research into the possibilities of extending painting into sculpture and public space, the work creates a phantasmagoric world through a complex study of pigeons, from street birds to pigeons that are a symbol of the goddess Venus to the pigeons that inspired Volodymyr Tatlin to create his flying apparatus
"Oksana, the intensity with which you approach your work, the interest with which you devote yourself to the topic of pigeons is extraordinary. Pigeons in your works represent a large number of symbols and references related to everyday life, but also many myths and mythological messages. I also see a large number of political contexts in them. Your painting style is distinctive and expressive, you don't just stay within the boundaries of painting, but go beyond it towards objects and performances. Oksana, your wings are spread very wide and your gaze is directed towards the future. In the microcosm of the city, you can present a universal narrative about the freedom of man in today's world, about his rise and fall." (Bohunka Koklesová)
Ema Gerliciová
Restoration of a large-format baroque painting with the iconography of Last Supper by Joseph Zanussi from the refectory of the Franciscan monastery in Nitra, 1800
213.5 x 618.5 cm, Oil painting on canvas
Conservation and Restoration (Studio of easel and panel painting conservation and restoration)
The practical part of the diploma work documents the complex restoration of a large-format baroque oil painting from the 18th century with the iconography of the Last Supper by Jozef Zanussi. The work showed structural problems and signs of past, invasive interventions, including full-surface repaintings from the 1980s, which significantly impaired the aesthetic and historical value of the work. The restoration was beneficial in the field of characterizing Jozef Zanussi's work. After removing the overpaintings, the artist's painting style was analyzed and documented using non-destructive research methods, which made it possible to understand his technique and creative process. A material analysis was performed on the work, which brought closer to Zanussi's painting palette, the choice of materials and the construction of the work. Findings acquired during the restoration made it possible to confirm the authenticity of the work and its inclusion among the author's work.
"Ema, for several years you have been restoring a monumental baroque painting with the theme of The Last Supper by Joseph Zanussi. I remember this picture from years ago and I know how unreadable it was. It was an extremely time-consuming restoration work on your part, and at the same time you were also able to use new restoration methods that you became familiar with during your internship at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Master's studies should also be about interaction, about the fact that you are able to bring pieces of your research or good work experience from a foreign internship. You learned to make your own decisions not only in your work, but I believe in your personal life as well." (Bohunka Koklesová)
