ARTISTS
Not Without Joy
Exhibition Not Without Joy is the first fundamental attempt at introducing the Czech public to work by artists who authentically live and reflect on highly diverse life situations, questions and issues whose importance far exceeds that of local and individual consideration.
The specific life and personal stories that formed each artwork may be seen individually, but they may also be generalised to the level of metaphors or symbols of certain key issues that lie in the foundations of unresolved current and past traumas existing at the very least between Africa, Europe and the US. Especially in America, the issue of slavery remains open. Racial discrimination, whether in the US or anywhere else, is a constantly recurring problem that cannot be overlooked. Gender issues have the same urgency at least on the socio-economic level on both sides of the equation, black and white. An outsider鈥檚 critical view of the consequences of European colonial exploitation 鈥� and deep-rooted Eurocentric thinking 鈥� is beyond essential, as is the need to examine the so far fairly rarely discussed theme of migration that can create new epicentres of tension in old societies unaccustomed to confronting the wider world.
In general, issues linked to the adaptation of migrants to life in societies with different existential emphases and social standards also need to be considered, as does the ability of both sides to find solutions to coexistence. This results either in deliberations about life in a ghetto, or about loneliness in the middle of a crowd. Less frequent themes include acculturation. We highlight it with testimony in the form of the transformation of traditional American gospel in relation to the issue of religious life in today鈥檚 US society. Today, we can no longer say that any of these problems are too remote and therefore do not concern us 鈥� that is one of the few recognised requirements of globalisation.
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Exhibition Not Without Joy is the first fundamental attempt at introducing the Czech public to work by artists who authentically live and reflect on highly diverse life situations, questions and issues whose importance far exceeds that of local and individual consideration.
The specific life and personal stories that formed each artwork may be seen individually, but they may also be generalised to the level of metaphors or symbols of certain key issues that lie in the foundations of unresolved current and past traumas existing at the very least between Africa, Europe and the US. Especially in America, the issue of slavery remains open. Racial discrimination, whether in the US or anywhere else, is a constantly recurring problem that cannot be overlooked. Gender issues have the same urgency at least on the socio-economic level on both sides of the equation, black and white. An outsider鈥檚 critical view of the consequences of European colonial exploitation 鈥� and deep-rooted Eurocentric thinking 鈥� is beyond essential, as is the need to examine the so far fairly rarely discussed theme of migration that can create new epicentres of tension in old societies unaccustomed to confronting the wider world.
In general, issues linked to the adaptation of migrants to life in societies with different existential emphases and social standards also need to be considered, as does the ability of both sides to find solutions to coexistence. This results either in deliberations about life in a ghetto, or about loneliness in the middle of a crowd. Less frequent themes include acculturation. We highlight it with testimony in the form of the transformation of traditional American gospel in relation to the issue of religious life in today鈥檚 US society. Today, we can no longer say that any of these problems are too remote and therefore do not concern us 鈥� that is one of the few recognised requirements of globalisation.
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