Dimitris Kontodimos, Natálie Pleváková, Adéla Součková / Forget me not
April 29, 2025 – July 19, 2025, opening April 29, 2025 at 7pm
Gallery opening hours: thursday – saturday, 11am – 7pm
The past is always shaped from the perspective of the present. It is not only what happened, but how we talk about it, how we remember it, how we interpret and simplify it. New interpretations of history emerge in every generation. Some reinforce power structures, others call them into question. It is precisely within this mutability, in the possibility of reviewing and reevaluating what we have previously taken for granted, that a space is created for imagination and change. And it is this space that also serves as an arena where we can once again question the role played in the shaping of society by gender, care and our relationship to the world around us.
The exhibition Forget me not examines how the stories of our past are constructed, and how our current social patterns and norms are formed through them. Via the means of diverse artistic approaches, it opens up the question as to what role in these processes is played by language, memory, the body and mundane objects.
Our initial inspiration here was the thought of the archaeologist and anthropologist of Lithuanian origin Marija Gimbutas, whose research into early neolithic societies provides us with an alternative viewpoint on the formation of social structures. Gimbutas draws our attention to the existence of “Old Europe” – cultures organised according to matriarchal principles, based on equality, care and harmony with the natural environment. Her theories are not and cannot be an exact description of an “actual” past, but rather function as a tool of the imagination: a way of thinking differently about what we have previously considered natural or given. Like Thomas More in his conception of utopia, she illustrates that imagining another world is a first step that enables us to embark upon a journey elsewhere, even if only to one of its potential intermediary stages.
Through the prism of Marija Gimbutas’ thought, the exhibition looks at the great narratives of humanity and explores how we might rethink them – from a feminist perspective that places emphasis on equality, the role of the woman in society and the possibilities of other forms of coexistence. It is not concerned with a return to a “lost paradise”, but rather with a critical re-evaluation of the stories that have shaped us and which we decide to continue to tell.
Natálie Pleváková works with mundane objects, specifically cutlery, in her installation Spork Tunes, in which she examines their gender and symbolic charge. Based on historical observations of matriarchal and patriarchal structures ensuing from inaccuracies in traditional historical narratives, the author reflects upon how perceptions of male and female roles are covertly anchored in objects we use every day. The fork, which in many languages has a female gender, has historically been subject to misunderstandings, and in certain periods has even been considered a symbol of evil. The spoon is almost exclusively considered a female object. By contrast, the knife, associated with male power, expresses a completely different archetype and is regarded as an instrument of power and control. Pleváková operates with these symbols and recontextualises them into a form of a self-playing instrument – a chime composed of cutlery. In this way she draws our attention to the power of the automatic narratives that limit us, while at the same time opening up a space for a re-evaluation of historical stereotypes. (The work was created with the kind assistance of Václav Černý).
The historical erasure and commodification of female bodies is a key theme in a work that focuses on the ideology of representing female sexuality. The work Shift in Perspective – a cheap souvenir of Aphrodite displayed on a refurbished support – transforms the original tool for recording into a pedestal, thereby symbolising the passive position of the female figure, which is traditionally objectified by the gaze. Aphrodite, originally the embodiment of fertility and sublime eroticism, is recontextualised here as a kitsch object.
Historically Aphrodite often appears alongside Eros or Cupid, whose variety of forms – child, servant, lover – reflects the ways in which culture frames female sexuality via male presence and control. Her erased face is intended to serve as a reminder that we are not concerned here merely with the fate of a single mythological figure, but with a broader question relating to the very essence of female identity.
The warning triangular symbol with the emoji in the work Δ 
In Adéla Součková’s work, the view of historical archetypes and their contemporary transformations is developed via forms that connect us with ancient stories. For this exhibition the author has created sculptures from bees’ wax, which refer to female goddesses from ancient cultures. Her work Silent Guardians of an Egg, inspired by the research conducted by Gimbutas, updates sculptures of neolithic Venuses, the goddess of fertility, frequently connected to animal forms that in the past were considered to represent an expression of female power and presence, and thereby enable us to rediscover our relationship towards nature and our own evolution. This return to archaic forms creates a space for a reassessment of the ecological and posthumanist status of humanity in today’s world. Součková focuses not only on aesthetics, but also on how these forms reflect our subconscious perception of nature and our role within it.
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Dimitris Kontodimos lives and works in Athens. His artistic research tackles with issues
related to urban culture, cityscape and everyday life. By means of sculpture and installation
he researches narratives revolving around collective memory, materiality and social
structures in our society. His work has been presented in solo and group shows held in
various cities across Greece and abroad.
In her work, the musical composer and sound artist Natálie Pleváková seeks ways to escape
from the temporal determinism of sound and fragmentary musical perception. She thereby
challenges us to embark upon a joint discovery of new cognitive narratives and aesthetic
categories in music, and to heighten our sensitivity when listening. She makes her own
musical instruments, regularly collaborates on theatre and dance performances, and creates
sound design for podcasts and audiovisual works. She works as a curator of the festival and
residential programme Sanatorium Sonorum, focusing on contemporary music and sound
art. She is also engaged in teaching activity.
Adéla Součková’s chief means of expression are drawing, text and interaction between
them. In her works she creates installations that often combine text, naturally dyed textiles
and video. The main focus of Součková’s work is the cultivation of a relationship towards the
landscape and the tension between spirituality and politics. Through her environmentally
conscious work she opens up a space for a reassessment of traditions. In recent years she
has focused on themes of digital surveillance and its impact on our relationship to the
landscape, transgenerational transmission of hunger and the instrumentalisation of
interpersonal relationships. Her work highlights the interconnectedness of micro and macro
realities, the connection of the personal with the global, and the relationship of prehistory to
digitality. Her theoretical background draws upon feminist literature, critical theory and
reflections of ecological philosophers.
Artists: Dimitris Kontodimos, Natálie Pleváková, Adéla Součková
Curator: Anežka Januschka Kořínková
The project is realised with the financial support of the Capital City of Prague, the Prague 3 Municipal District, the Ministry of Culture and the State Culture Fund of the Czech Republic. Thank you for your support.