I haven´t been here
The extensive retrospective exhibition of the contemporary Czech artist Jiří Kovanda (1953), who is known for his performances from the early 1970s, displays works from different state and private collections throughout Europe. The human psyche was his chief theme the same as in the work of other European artists at that time. He is known for his modest and minimalist form, he organized a number of performances in which he tested his own state of mind as well as the state of mind of the bystanders. He has also contributed in a significant way to the advent of postmodern thought in Czech culture. For instance, he created a number of works in which he worked with current changes of social values. The exhibition and catalogue were prepared in cooperation with the House of Arts in Brno and the Polish Museum Współczesne Wrocław.
- The exhibition in the House of Arts00:00:06.230
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- called I Haven't Been Here Yet00:00:09.704
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- is in fact the first real retrospective of my work,00:00:11.945
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- although there was a big exhibition of my work in 200800:00:18.744
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- at The White Unicorn Gallery00:00:24.745
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- prepared by the curator Edith Jeřábková.00:00:27.896
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- However there are all important phases of my work00:00:31.314
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- presented chronologically from 1973 until today,00:00:35.723
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- including performances from the 1970s,00:00:43.421
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- objects from the 1990s and paintings from late 1980s00:00:48.489
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- to installations and performances00:00:53.018
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- I made after year 2000.00:00:56.355
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- In fact it's a brief summary of my existing work.00:01:02.847
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- The original idea of the exhibition comes from00:01:10.520
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- the Wroclaw Museum of Contemporary Art,00:01:15.567
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- where it was introduced00:01:19.529
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- last year in November.00:01:22.249
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- I am happy it was possible to transfer00:01:25.206
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- the exhibition here to the Brno House of Arts,00:01:28.127
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- because it's much better environment00:01:31.364
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- for presentation of such type of work.00:01:34.331
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- The House of Arts as a gallery00:01:39.986
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- is clean and more favourable,00:01:42.711
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- all the things impress well here,00:01:46.790
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- the exhibition's conception allows00:01:50.207
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- not only chronological advancement00:01:55.450
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- from one phase to the other one,00:02:00.268
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- but the disposition of the halls offers00:02:03.485
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- views from the00:02:07.564
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- it's possible to connect the individual phases00:02:13.482
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- not only on the basis of the chronology00:02:18.208
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- but also across the time.00:02:21.445
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- There will be a small performance00:02:25.887
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- carried out within the opening.00:02:29.176
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- A professional restorer will try00:02:33.522
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- to find my work I created here00:02:39.558
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- in the House of Arts within a collective00:02:45.413
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- exhibition sometime after year 2000.00:02:47.608
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- The curator of the collective exhibition was Michal Koleček,00:02:52.702
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- it was an international exhibition,00:02:57.699
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- but I can't remember the name.00:02:59.291
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- I walled up one hundred Czech coins00:03:02.533
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- within the installation and only the last coin was00:03:07.583
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- visible on the wall plastering.00:03:14.137
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- When the exhibition finished,00:03:19.988
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- the then director Radek Horáček00:03:22.011
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- decided to keep the work and he just00:03:23.765
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- pushed the top coin into the wall00:03:28.005
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- and covered it by a plastering.00:03:30.287
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- So the work should be somewhere00:03:32.127
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- here and the professional00:03:34.307
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- restorer will try to find the coins.00:03:37.898
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- It will take place during the opening.00:03:43.577
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- I am really happy for the museum00:03:48.615
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- and also as a foreigner that Jirka Kovanda's00:03:50.898
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- vision of the world can be presented here.00:03:55.048
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- We have known each other for many years00:03:58.061
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- and we started to work together00:04:00.225
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- for the first time in 2008.00:04:01.905
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- We made several exhibitions in Poland and a book.00:04:03.507
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- Then I continued in getting to know00:04:06.817
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- his very interesting art.00:04:09.069
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- I think that Jiří Kovanda is one of the most00:04:11.089
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- interesting artists not only in the Czech Republic00:04:15.965
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- but also in Central Europe.00:04:18.618
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- I am pleased I could prepare a retrospective exhibition00:04:20.466
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- of Jirka Kovanda's work here in Brno00:04:26.570
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- for Czech people who are interested in contemporary art.00:04:30.495
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- It's a specific point of view,00:04:35.842
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- Jirka has had many interesting exhibitions00:04:38.824
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- till now in the Czech Republic,00:04:42.572
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- for example the exhibition prepared00:04:44.426
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- by Edith Jeřábková in Klatovy.00:04:46.461
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- The exhibitions were made gradually in00:04:48.324
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- a specific way for the space given.00:04:52.236
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- This exhibition's preparation took us two years and it00:04:55.898
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- presents all his work from 1970s up to now.00:05:01.425
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- We found many things that are00:05:09.371
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- shown for the first time here,00:05:11.516
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- for example his text collages from 197300:05:14.893
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- which have never been displayed.00:05:18.756
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- The exhibition presents his artistic development00:05:21.893
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- from the beginning up to now.00:05:25.876
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- His poetic and minimalist world00:05:28.773
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- hasn't changed over the past forty years,00:05:31.323
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- he uses the same language the whole time,00:05:34.912
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- he just makes use of different mediums.00:05:38.602
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- Whether it's events from the 1970s00:05:41.236
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- and later after year00:05:43.141
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- Paintings from the late00:05:47.587
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- that are very important for Jirka.00:05:53.890
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- I'm very delighted the exhibition takes place in Brno00:05:56.679
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- because the town is very close to Jirka.00:06:01.970
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- Many things displayed here today were shown00:06:09.812
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- for the first time in Brno or at Karel Tutsche,00:06:15.048
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- Richard Adam or here in the House of Arts.00:06:22.571
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- Even the name of the exhibition is funny.00:06:27.787
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- I Haven't Been Here Yet although it is one of his00:06:31.683
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- closest places existing in the Czech Republic.00:06:35.835
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- What's also interesting and makes me very happy00:06:41.198
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- is that we managed to display even more00:06:45.465
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- interesting work than in Wroclaw.00:06:48.943
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- We can say the exhibition in Wroclaw00:06:53.633
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- was a preliminary to the one which00:06:55.686
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- is being opened in Brno today.00:06:57.815