The exhibition at the Venice Biennale will be created by Irena Jůzová

Prague - The joint Czech-Slovak exhibition at the biennale of contemporary art in Venice next year will be created by Irena Jůzová. A committee composed of representatives from both the Czech and Slovak national galleries and other institutions selected her proposal from 20 submissions. Petra Jungwirthová, spokesperson for the National Gallery in Prague, which is organizing the Czech-Slovak participation at the biennale this year, said this today to ČTK. One of the oldest exhibitions of contemporary art in Venice will start on June 10, 2007, and will last until November.
    Jůzová’s project is a spatial installation with a strong personal contribution - it is based on the imprints of her body, which create a new object. According to the spokesperson, the committee's selection was based on "the complexity of the project’s solution, its impact, which consists in the combination and confrontation of general and intimate aspects of life, and its perfect technical processing." The 41-year-old Jůzová studied at the AAAD in Prague from 1987 to 1989 and then transferred to the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where she studied under Aleš Veselý until 1994.
    The exhibition pavilion in Venice was created in 1924 according to the design of architect Otakar Novotný. Four years ago, the Czech Republic and Slovakia signed an indefinite agreement that both successor states of Czechoslovakia would use the facility together; both countries also participate in financing the pavilion.
    The exhibition grounds are located in the gardens of the Venetian castle, where 56 countries have gradually built their national pavilions. The Venice Biennale provides an opportunity for both the Czech Republic and Slovakia to present their art abroad once every two years.
    The last exhibition was prepared by the Slovak side. Last year in Venice, Ján Mančuška, a recipient of the Jindřich Chalupecký Award, along with Stano Filko and Boris Ondreička, exhibited under the curatorial leadership of the director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno, Marek Pokorný. In 2003, it was organized by the Czechs. The groups Kamera Skura and Kunst Fu prepared a successful project called Superstart, which was based on almost religious reverence for sports stars.
     The commissioner for next year's project will be Tomáš Vlček, director of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art. Members of the selection committee, besides Vlček, included the director of the NG Milan Knížák, the director of the Klatovy/Klenová Gallery Marcel Fišer, the director of the Moravian Gallery in Brno Marek Pokorný, photographer Štěpánka Šimlová, and one representative from the Slovak National Gallery.