We didn’t have a conversation, we just made some noise

24.2.2025 – 18.4.2025, opening 24.2.2025 in 7pm

Gallery opening hours: thursday – saturday, 11am – 7pm

Language is not an exclusively human phenomenon – it is a process of communication and interpreting signs that takes place on various levels of existence of the diverse species of our planet. Different life forms use different means of expressing and transmitting information. From our own perspective some organisms may lack a voice, but their modes of expression can be perceived and interpreted in multiple ways. The exhibition project We didn’t have a conversation, we just made some noise opens up the theme of linguistic structures beyond the human sphere and explores the possibilities of understanding communication between organisms that is not bound to human language. 

Biolinguistics and biosemiotics, two fields of inquiry that have expanded our understanding of linguistic forms in nature in recent decades, show us how organisms communicate. The biosemiotician Jesper Hoffmeyer defines language as a complex semiosphere within which organisms exchange information. Plants communicate by means of chemical signals, fungi create underground networks for sharing nutrients and warning messages, and insects use complex systems of dance and pheromones. The artists within the project approach the subject from different perspectives – Ćubović from the field of illustration and graphic art, Malinová from the environment of free art and Petrů from the field of textile design.

Jovana Ćubović in her artwork focuses on the language of insects. With the aid of drawing and paper she simulates, records and analyses the visual elements of their communication. In her most recent projects she has concentrated on the traces small animals have left on the paper. The marks that these pests have “gnawed” become the foundation of her own alphabet, which she developed through the study of similarities of holes and tracks in the paper. 

Světlana Malina’s installation combines archive photography of nature captured in a greenhouse or botanical garden with an introspective text that conveys the voice of nature, which finds itself on the boundary between being and disintegration. The words evoke a sense of engulfment, gradual decomposition and merging with something intangible – perhaps soil, perhaps time itself. The combination of image and text opens up a space for perceiving nature as a sensitive subject whose presence is mutable, disintegrating but never entirely disappearing. 

In his work with textile design, Jan Petrů creates patterns on fabrics and weaves his own images, the motifs of which are based on the artist’s regular observation of the landscape and the behaviour of the organisms within it. Jan Petrů systematically spends time in a natural environment, perceiving its metamorphoses and recording them through drawing, photography and gathering material. He subsequently makes use of this material as an inspiration for his textile works, which reflect transformations within the natural environment.

The exhibition project incorporates both a desire to understand an environment that lives a life of own and an aspiration to create a new environment that would enable another way of perceiving the world around us. It poses questions concerning what genuine interspecies communication might entail if we were to learn how to listen differently, with greater openness to non-human languages and forms of expression. 

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Jovana Ćubović (1995, Čačak) graduated last year from the University of Arts and Design in Linz (Painting & Graphic Art Department). Traditional printmaking techniques and drawing, as well as experimenting with various book forms, led her to discover the language of flies—an imaginary language in the form of asemic writing. While studying, she was a member of Potato Publishing, an artist collective/riso print studio from Linz where she developed her interest for artists’ publishing forms. Her recent works include the ongoing project Kobrovača (Kobraschnaps) and other publications with bookworm (insect) traces as archival material and nonhuman language. She currently lives and works in Vienna and Belgrade. 

Světlana Malina (1997, Zlín) is an artist and curator living in Prague. She studied photography at FAMU and the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Her work is situated somewhere on the periphery of photography, video and visual media, while she focuses on curating and gallery practice and work with text. In the years of 2020–2024 she was a member of the curating team of the City Surfer Office gallery. Since 2022 she has been the artistic director and curator of the Fotograf Festival, and as of 2025 she is the director of the Fotograf Gallery. In her curatorial work she focuses on non-linear narratives in the moving image and photography.

Jan Petrů (1997, Prague) is a graduate in book production from the Hellichova the Prague Graphic School. He is currently studying at the Textile Studio at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, where he is focusing on the design of textile products. He has presented his artworks at international design and textile trade fairs. In 2024 he took part in the Dutch Design Week in the Netherlands with the VLNA project, which deals with the issue of the revival of interest in European wool. In addition to textile techniques he also works with ceramics, wood and graphic art techniques. 

Artists: Jovana Ćubović, Světlana Malina, Jan Petrů

Curator: Pamela

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.