25 Oct 2009

Jitka Mikulicova at Karlin Studios, Prague

Jitka Mikulicova:  Černoušek Bu Bu

I spent my childhood growing up in the context of a homogenous society in the Czech Republic. Despite the political propaganda preached in school about racial and national equality, after I forgot to shut the door behind myself at school, I was questioned about the “ownership of a black servant”.

I have encountered interesting images of African-looking people on the packaging of Orion chocolates and banana stickers, and “seemingly-exotic” African sculptures beautifying our homes. . Every Christmas, I also enthusiastically looked forward to going to church in the nearby village, where there was a cash register in the shape of a black figurine into whose mouth I inserted change, and who thanked me by nodding his head.

It was not until several years following the Velvet Revolution that I actually encountered a real, live black person.  

What I present here, is a series of sculptures, created according to existing objects such as a saltshaker, an ashtray, a hanger, a fishing hook or a broom. These obscure items represent the colonial phenomenon of black people – established as caricatures and sold until present day. The final form represents life-size sculptures (casts of real people) that manifest the initial function of the objects mentioned above.

Due to these realistic and explicit forms, an initially unprovocative topic expands into uncomfortably real dimensions. The brutality and absurdity of objects that we sometimes tend to perceive as cute is heightened by the particular form of the model. It is no coincidence that in a country which does not maintain stigma of colonialism, and where political correctness is not perceived as such a necessity, we will find that most black people live in Prague, where everyone “works as a slave”. (Jitka Mikulicova)

 
The year-round exhibition plan of Karlin Studios is supported by:
Prague City Hall, the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic
Media support: Artyčok.tv, PragueOut, Rádio 1, Radio Wave, Umělec, Artmap, Flash Art