Slapetova and Rittsteinon View at DOX Prague | Prague - Centre for Contemporary Art DOX | 06/03 - 17/05/09
The DOX Center for Contemporary Art presents an exhibition by Barbora Slapetova and Lukas Rittstein, titled “Manop, Final First”, inspired by their repeated travels to West Papua and their meeting with tribes living in the jungle. The exhibition features large-format photographs made by Slapetova, in confrontation with Rittstein’s “Forest” sculptures. Concurrently with the exhibition, Café DOX has organized a series of lectures on our civilization’s approach to indigenous peoples, which introduces the broader context of the project. The exhibition will include various quotes from discussions with tribe members, documenting their notions about the Earth and Space. Some Papuans believe that the Earth is composed of three floors, between which highly talented individuals can travel, or that the eyes of animals travel through the skies, looking down at the Earth and watching it. In their endeavor to initiate a dialog between our world and that of tribal societies, Rittstein and Šlapetová engaged two prominent figures to represent modern civilization, who will take part in the exhibition: the first Asian American astronaut Leroy Chino, whom the artists chose as the patron of their project, and Václav Havel. Three publications will be released to accompany the exhibition: “Don’t Come Any Nearer”, a book of photographs by Barbora Šlapetová and interviews with Papua tribesmen, published by Galerie Zdeněk Sklenář in collaboration with Euromedia Group k.s. – Knižní klub. The second publication is a monograph of Lukáš Rittstein that offers an overview of his sculptural work to date. The catalogue of the exhibition, which documents the installation in the DOX Center, will be available after the opening of the exhibition.
Barbora Šlapetová and Lukáš Rittstein
“Manop, Final First”
The DOX Center for Contemporary Art, Prague
March 6 through May 17, 2009