PRAGUE - The NGP exhibition at the Trade Fair Palace explores the evolution of the relationship between humans and nature – not only flora and fauna, but also the landscape as a whole – in art from the 1930s to the beginning of the so-called "normalization" period. It demonstrates that nature is not merely a backdrop to human existence, and therefore cannot be endlessly exploited.

“This exhibition essentially raises the fundamental question of whether humans and culture are or are not in conflict with the existence of nature,” said Eva Skopalová, the curator of the exhibition.

Visitors can enjoy over a hundred works from the rich collections of the National Gallery and foreign institutions. The exhibition features works by iconic artists such as František Kupka, Josef Šíma, Toyen, Jindřich Štyrský, František Muzika, Eva Kmentová, and Hana Wichterlová. The exhibition also includes works by foreign artists from Poland and Slovakia, such as Karol Hiller, Adam Procký, and Maria Bartuszova. The curator has also included works by contemporary artists – Anna Hulačová, Eliška Konečná, Jimena Mendoza, Marie Tučková, and Kristína Bukovčáková – which can be seen as an expression of a sense of belonging to the past.

“We can certainly identify with what artists were doing sixty or eighty, ninety years ago, and this is true, in part, through the work of contemporary female artists. The ideas of people who are no longer with us are not dead; they participate in the present,” said the curator.

The project focuses on the emotional bond between humans and nature and explores how historical events such as war and totalitarian regimes have influenced our perception of the landscape, or how they have severed our connections to the landscape. Artistic works become a means of restoring a sensitive relationship with all living things. They serve as a means that encourages visitors to reflect and experience. “The emotional bond with nature is perhaps an intuitive principle of our own survival. If we have a relationship with something, we protect it,” explains the curator.

Alicja Knast, Director General of the National Gallery in Prague, adds: “This exhibition, prepared by curator Eva Skopalová with the dedication of the entire NGP team, brings together the voices of artists, thinkers, and visionaries who, like writer Rachel Carson, question indifference and urge us to re-evaluate our relationship with the world around us. The artists in the exhibition remind us with their works that nature is not a backdrop to our existence, but its foundation. They remind us that our decisions today will shape the landscape of tomorrow.”

The final section of the exhibition focuses on the theme of the exploitation of nature during the so-called "normalization" period, when the landscape was primarily seen as a resource. The exhibition also refers to significant events of the time, including the discussion about pesticides following the publication of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring (later translated as Fireside Spring) in 1962, which was published in Czechoslovakia four years later and led to changes in laws in the United States.

Alicja Knast summarizes: “History has shown that one voice can awaken a generation. Silent Spring is an invitation to listen – to art, to nature, and to the urgency of our time.”

The exhibition is open to the public until August 31, 2025, on the 1st floor of the east wing of the NGP Trade Fair Palace in Prague 7, at Dukelských hrdinů 47.

NGP/gnews.cz - HeK

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