StonyTellers

"The StonyTellers art collective seeks to build communities based on mutual care and sharing. In their approach, its members often incorporate social media, communicating via its simplistic aesthetic. Behind its eye-catching imagery, however, hides a rich and complex approach with multiple layers of meaning. They successfully translate artistic ideas into real-life social situations, by orchestrating carefully crafted, performative encounters. Their performances expose the existential anxiety and often precarious conditions of independent artistic creation and aim to strengthen interpersonal and interspecies communication and solidarity. ” (jury statement)

The StonyTellers collective was founded in 2019 and is based in the studio of sculpture at UMPRUM in Prague. As stonemasons, women, feminists, artists, storytellers, students, curators, gardeners, future psychologists, bartenders, intercultural workers, ceramicists, economists, grant applicants, producers, curators, graphic designers, photographers, PR managers, foster parents, singles, partners and wives, they critically respond to the work of artists in an era of climate change and create space for collective and sustainable practice. In their virtual narratives, installations and performances, they explore themes that emerge from shared choices, hardships, anxieties and desires in response to the state of the contemporary world. They involve human and non-human agents in their work, creating a space for new relationships to emerge. 

StonyTellers have presented their work in a number of galleries in the Czech Republic and abroad. They also present in non-gallery spaces and on Instagram: Garden Burnout (2021), Globalisation Recipes 1.0 – Tales from Luhačovice as part of the Luhovaný Vincent festival (2021), Signature Drinks (2021/2022), Broken Window to the Garden (2022) and Gossip Stones (2022).