Big Golden Eyes – 35 years of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award

On the thirty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the Jindřich Chalupecký Society, we present this experimental exhibition project at GAMPA. Seven new artworks on the boundaries of archival work and the mapping of institutional history reflect – both humorously and seriously – the milestones, rises and falls, unexpected twists, turns and slips, as well as the unusual continuity of one of the most frequently discussed events on the Czech art scenes – the Jindřich Chalupecký Award. 

Vojtěch Radakulan’s original architectural intervention encompasses generous artistic projects in various media, from painting, through objects and(video-)installations, to video games. These include an artistically conceived timeline of the Award’s development from 1990 to the present day (Petra Herotová), an interactive “legend” presenting the story of the Award’s establishment and the people connected to its establishment (Michal Pěchouček), a treatment of the theme of inclusion and care among the Award’s laureates as well as within the Society itself (Lenka Klodová), reflections in the media and various scandals (Jakub Polách), gestures of solidarity and political engagement relating to the award (Katarína Poliačiková and Eva Priečková), various physical or even architectural interventions at the institutions that hosted the award exhibition, frequently accompanied by institutional critique (Vojtěch Radakulan), and finally the eternal theme of the “struggle” between so-called traditional and new media and the related expectations among viewers and the art scene (Aleš Zapletal). The individual works thus relate to specific people and events related to the Award, whilst also creating an entirely original artistic interpretation here and now. As a whole, the exhibition offers an accessible perspective on various key moments in the thirty-five-year history of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award in a broader context, allowing visitors to peak “behind the curtain” and realise how un-self-evident, occasionally absurd, and yet admirably resilient the art world – in this case represented by the history of one award – truly is.