Jan Ambrůz: Othercountry

Lecture room no. 103
AFAD, Hviezdoslavovo nám. 18, Bratislava

The civic association “jinákrajina” was established to facilitate the implementation of the long-term project “CROSSES PATH SCULPTURES LAND PEOPLE” in the cadastral areas of the municipalities Šarové, Lhota, Salaš and Bohuslavice near Zlín. The project has been gradually carried out since 2007, when the installation proposal for the “Stations of the Cross” was first developed.

The association aims to bring people back into the cultural landscape, which, due to insensitive land management, has been gradually turning into nothing more than an object of business and speculation. The situation is all the more alarming because the current land user treats it solely as a business—ploughing it up, over-ploughing boundaries, and ignoring natural and geographical features. The landscape is merely “managed”, maintained in a superficial sense, which affects both the land itself and its owners. Through decades of collectivization and later the introduction of market-oriented agriculture, they have lost interest in their own land and in the natural cultural character of the countryside.

“Landscape revitalization is possible. Revitalizing the soul is far more complicated. With this project, we want to awaken the interest of local inhabitants in the surrounding landscape, which should be a natural part of the living environment of the villages.”