Whose problem is it? - exhibition at the Gallery VI PER
Homelessness between Prague and New York
Gallery VI PER cordially invites you to the opening of the exhibition Whose Problem Is It?, prepared by Karolína Kripnerová and Janek Rous.
When we examine why someone has nowhere to sleep at night, we inevitably start asking pressing questions. What values do we acknowledge? What is our relationship to the weakest members of society? How does this manifest in public space? What influence does the environment have on a person? How many segregated areas and people are there in social exclusion? Are we racists? What is our attitude towards housing – is it a right or a merit? Does our society create homeless people by itself?
They are people we do not perceive as part of society; they are for us an image of life failure and disappointment. It is a question of how much of this is by their own will or their own fault.
Homelessness should be viewed as a political problem embodying the (mal)functionality of the housing system. Inaccessibility of housing is primarily a political decision. The prevailing rhetoric about individual failure thus deliberately diverts attention from politics and government, who bear responsibility for this situation.
The exhibition Whose Problem Is It? was created in collaboration with architect Karolína Kripnerová and artist Janek Rous. Both have been long engaged with social issues such as housing inaccessibility, exclusion, and homelessness, from both architectural and contemporary art perspectives. The impetus for the exhibition’s creation was Karolína Kripnerová's research internship in New York, USA, which took place in spring 2023 due to a Fulbright scholarship and thus expanded the topic to include an American context.
When we examine why someone has nowhere to sleep at night, we inevitably start asking pressing questions. What values do we acknowledge? What is our relationship to the weakest members of society? How does this manifest in public space? What influence does the environment have on a person? How many segregated areas and people are there in social exclusion? Are we racists? What is our attitude towards housing – is it a right or a merit? Does our society create homeless people by itself?
They are people we do not perceive as part of society; they are for us an image of life failure and disappointment. It is a question of how much of this is by their own will or their own fault.
Homelessness should be viewed as a political problem embodying the (mal)functionality of the housing system. Inaccessibility of housing is primarily a political decision. The prevailing rhetoric about individual failure thus deliberately diverts attention from politics and government, who bear responsibility for this situation.
The exhibition Whose Problem Is It? was created in collaboration with architect Karolína Kripnerová and artist Janek Rous. Both have been long engaged with social issues such as housing inaccessibility, exclusion, and homelessness, from both architectural and contemporary art perspectives. The impetus for the exhibition’s creation was Karolína Kripnerová's research internship in New York, USA, which took place in spring 2023 due to a Fulbright scholarship and thus expanded the topic to include an American context.
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