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Culture is broadly understood as a pattern of behavior that is shared within a given community, without being innate or necessarily generalizable within a particular species. In other words, it is transmitted and disseminated in a non-hereditary way—through learning, observation, or imitation.
In another, but semantically similar concept, culture is interpreted as a comprehensive system, manifested primarily in lifestyle, conditioned by adherence to a certain set of norms based on a clear value scale and binding patterns of behavior. With the exception of intraspecies differences, one of the consequences of such behavior is the emergence of traditions – usually transcending a given generation.
This autumn will bring a significant cultural anniversary to the city of Tábor – October 11 will mark exactly six hundred years since the legendary Hussite leader and one of the first governors of Tábor, Jan Žižka, died during one of his military campaigns. If we add to this the fact that this year marks the 609th anniversary of the burning at the stake of the ideological predecessor of the Hussite movement, Master Jan Hus (which falls on the third day of the festival), it presents a relatively significant opportunity to refer to the cultural tradition of (not only) the South Bohemian city in general. Unsurprisingly, the legacy of the Hussite movement is at the very heart of Tábor's tourist attractions. However, in favor of the somewhat superficial appeal of the "dark" Middle Ages and the combative nature of the Hussites, many opportunities to relate the ideological foundations of the movement to the pressing issues of today are often overlooked.
The environmental aspect of Hussite thinking is particularly noteworthy. Like contemporary generations, the Hussites lived with the prospect of dramatic changes in the world (or even its end, as it was known at the time) either approaching or already underway. As a result, their radically revolutionary agenda also carried with it a significant dimension of what today could be described by the popular term “degrowth.” In recent years, however, the myth of the decadent nature of Hussite artistic creation has gradually been debunked. The thematic framing of the exhibition project What We Give Meaning To, We Live By draws on the legacy of the city's exceptionally rich cultural tradition, but it examines the phenomenon of traditions as such on a broader scale. Through the works on display (some of which directly address the Hussite legacy), it examines in particular the processes and ways in which traditions are (de)constructed. The exhibited works approach their essence, role, significance, and impact (not only) in the light of current socio-political contexts from a variety of positions and perspectives.
Tradition thus takes on various forms in the works of the artists represented here – whether it becomes a starting point worthy of critical examination or, conversely, is referenced and developed through the artistic techniques or creative processes employed.
