We participated in the international art fair Supermarket Independent Art Fair in Stockholm.
There, we had the opportunity to present ourselves among 60 independent art spaces from around the world. During the fair, we connected with many inspiring galleries, artists, and curators, exchanged valuable insights, and established new meaningful contacts. This year’s theme of Supermarket – Passion – was interpreted by us through the lens of passion for administrative and non-artistic tasks that every artist must carry out. Our booth took the form of an authentic, makeshift office, where visitors could view works by Pragovka’s artist-in-residence participants as well as situational performances.
As part of the Talks and Performance program, four performances by Pragovka’s resident artists – David Helán and Tomáš Ruller – were presented. These brought moments of focus, surprise, and humor. David Helán used improvisation to explore the formulation and combination of words and texts, resulting in abstract, nonsensical poetry. His performance commented on both the art world and social dysfunction. The second artist-in-residence, Tomáš Ruller, intervened in the performance as a stowaway – unnoticed by others – disrupting and “spoiling” the artistic self-expression of his colleague.
The Supermarket Independent Art Fair aims to present unique projects, create opportunities for the emergence of new local and international networks, and share the strengths of the independent art scene with the wider public. It has been held annually in Stockholm, Sweden since 2007. Over the years, it has consistently provided space for artist-run galleries, collectives, nomadic initiatives, and independent projects of all forms from across the globe.
We would like to thank the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Czech Centre in Stockholm, and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Stockholm for their support.