"...and no other!"

The exhibition is based on a reflection of the current situation of the Slovak cultural and art scene, which has found itself under increasing political pressure and interventions into its institutional autonomy in recent years. This state is understood as a concrete social reality, the consequences of which are gradually impacting the Czech geopolitical space. This fact is therefore addressed through a Czech-Slovak dialogue based on proximity, shared experience, and historical continuity.

The title of the exhibition refers to the phrase "Slovak and no other!", which is here understood as a symptom of a broader cultural and political framework. The exhibition does not focus on criticizing it as an individual statement, but examines the mechanisms by which national identity becomes a tool of demarcation, representation, and legitimation in the field of culture.

The exhibition is conceived as a set of independent curatorial-artistic contributions that reflect the current position of Slovak art from various perspectives. It evokes the format of a conference dialogue, thus allowing for the capture of a plurality of voices and strategies – from working with the institutional memory and archive of the House of Arts, through an open call testing the boundaries of the concept of "Slovak art", to the level of survival strategies and project idealism, where unfulfilled intentions become an indicator of suppressed potential and alternative directions of development.

The aim of the exhibition is not to create a unified image, but to articulate the situation in its complexity and contradictions. It does not only strive to present contemporary art, but primarily to read it as a tool for reflection and sharing experiences in the Central European context. At the same time, it raises the question of the role of cultural institutions as active actors in the public space and how art can enter into a changing political and social framework – and what contemporary Slovak art tells us about the conditions in which it is created.

collaborators: Zuzana Janečková and Dorota Kenderová, Radovan Čerevka and Tomáš Makara, initiative Umenie nebude ticho!, Svatopluk Mikyta and Zuzana Bodnárová, Barbora Trnková, VKB - Viktória Pardovičová, BAiR - Šimon Kadlčák and Jan Langer, BAM - Veronika Jičínská

The exhibition is held under the patronage of the Mayor of Brno, Markéta Vaňková.

Photo: Romana Horáková