The exhibition connects an elemental life-giving element and a powerful symbol preserved for many ages - fire. In the background of the creation of the installation and equally important live actions will be both the photo and video archive of the artists themselves, as well as the collaborative creation of situations associated with prepared scrums of plants, fragrant woods, rattlesnakes and elements washed by ocean waves. The central object will become the hearth as sculptural object, the rising smoke and the many-voiced (or silent) prayer as a means of connecting with ancestors present, future and past in one precious time. A purposeful time-lapse collection of video and photo material of fires from different seasons and gardens, supported by careful drying and gathering of herbs, plants and other found material will give rise to opportunities for gathering over specific scents and themes within the courtyard and the gallery itself.
Eva Brodská has been hand-weaving tapestries since the 1960s, and currently lives between Prague and Roudnice, where she has her own studio. Her authorial language is very reminiscent of watercolour paintings, which she uses as sketches for her large-scale textile paintings. She is inspired by her garden in Roudnice, but also by the landscape she observes on her travels. Similar fascinations and sources of inspiration can be observed in the work of Lucie Králíková. She came to her own artistic work through her floral studio Efemér. Her initial interest in local nature, people and ceremony has developed and Lucie Králíková realises open meetings, walks, small urban celebrations, workshops and more intimate rituals. Her book Sacraments was published by wo-men publishing house, on which she collaborated with photographer Michaela Karásek Čejková.
Dana Balážová met Eva Brodská through their mutual friend Lucie. In 2022, she made a video essay Eva and Lucie about the unusual friendship of two generations apart artists. During the making of the film, she had a unique opportunity to get a glimpse into Eva's background and way of working. Although Brodská's work has been consistent and solitary throughout her life, it is in recent years that she has come to the centre of wider interest, with the rediscovery of craftsmanship in contemporary art.