Julie Daňhelová, Kryštof Kučera, Dowsing Rods

The exhibition by Julie Daňhelová and Kryštof Kučera brings together several metaphorical ore veins that have shaped the cultural landscape of the Krušné hory [Ore Mountains]. The dowsing rods in the exhibition’s title refer to the controversial method of searching for underground metals using rods, a practice miners here have resorted to since the Middle Ages. At the same time, they suggest that mining has never been merely about extracting raw materials, but also about a certain (not necessarily rational) relationship with the environment. With her chosen themes, Julie turns to mining mythology; her precise micro-pencil drawings also resemble bobbin lace, which the miners themselves reportedly made on the side when they couldn’t go underground. A similar tension between brute force and delicate handling is evident in Kryštof’s wooden objects, whose form can evoke both magic wands and industrial drills. Furthermore, the artworks in the exhibition are complemented by found fragments of mother-of-pearl and brass instruments, which represent remnants of local button-making and musical instrument production. Together, Julie and Kryštof thus undertake an exploration of an ambiguous space where tradition blends with modernity, magic with technology, the inhospitability of underground shafts with the coziness of vanished homes, domestic production with the global market, and the exploitation of the landscape with care for it. Julie Daňhelová, Kryštof Kučera, Dowsing Rods -