Prague, 14 June – 29 September, 2024, https://matterof.art
For this edition, the itinerant biennial moved to the large hall of the Trade Fair Palace (Veletrzni Palac) of the National Gallery. Another half of the show was in the City Gallery of Lidice outside of Prague. This linked into the theme of the show, which focused on the relations between the countryside, the city and labour, which in the given context often meant physical farmers/factory worker´s labour.
The large hall of the NG is a very generous space, which allowed a very free, almost unlimited exhition setup without architectural constraints. It was pleasant to meander among the artworks, accompanied by a free guidebook and icon-like signposts associated with each artwork. It is no doubt that a lot of thought and love went into the the planning and exhibition design. Probably courtesy of The Rodina (Tereza and Vit Ruller)? But definitely also the curators Katalin Erdodi a Aleksei Borisionok.
Many of the artworks had a social-critical dimension, pointing at different ills in society. Access to land and resources. Common vs. private ownership. Alternative (to capitalism) forms of cooperation and society-building. Etc.
My favourite artwork was by a artist collective called bjornsonova. They created a chill-out zone hanging fabric banners, fluffy pillows and on-the-floor seating. In this relaxed atmosphere, they invited you to flick through their book and card set. The contents of the book were a stream-of-consciousness text, very fragmented, but still somehow readable. Relaxed, same like the atmosphere. From another point of view, one could say bjornsonova created a wonderful experiential product presentation for their book-product. Either way, it was the highlight for me.
