Invisible

… that live among us, or generally for those who for whatever reasons feel themselves to be invisible to others.

Why is priority given to some animals over others? Why do we cultivate some plants and try to eradicate others? Who decides who or what is designated a weed or a pest? What are the advantages of living or growing up out of view? And do you sometimes feel invisible? Come with us on a walk through the city and meet those who live in it, even though we often either don’t see them or consciously overlook them. Our guides will take you through the city streets, passages, car parks, past bus stops, window ledges, courtyards of buildings, bushes, puddles, the cracks between the paving stones and everywhere we think we know well.
The workshop is structured as a walk through the city with individual stops. The last stop is the courtyard Jako doma, where after our journey together we’ll gather our strength so as to embark on the next stage of attempting to transform ourselves into invisible beings: SPIDERS, THISTLES, FLIES, NETTLES or MICE. Once we create costumes and masks, once we eat together and become accustomed to our new bodies and new identities, once we read a few stories about invisible animals, plants or people and set out on our journey home, furnished with wings, portable roots, tentacles, stings or mottled leaves, perhaps we’ll find that we’ve once again managed to broaden our conceptions about the world and allow into it new inhabitants that we’d never previously seen. And perhaps also find new friends.

Our guides will be the botanist Jan Albert Šturma, the zoologist Jan Hošek, the artist Eva Jiřička and others.

Fabrics, cardboard and other materials for the production of costumes and masks on site.

Jan Albert Šturma (born 1981) studied geobotany at the Faculty of Science of Charles University, Prague. He focuses on suburban and industrial vegetation, the ethnobotany of the former Sudetenland and on increasing the biodiversity of intensively used agricultural land.

Eva Jiřička studied at the Fine Arts Academy, Prague. As an artist she oscillates between performance and documentary. Her screenplays investigate limits of the personal and social space.

The workshop takes place within the framework of the series Žijí mimo svá jména, a cycle of public events: workshops, discussions, performances aimed at familiarising children with the world of animals, plants, fungi and other non-human inhabitants of our world.

Thanks to Jako doma organization for supporting this event.

Photoreport: Petra Pučeková
Post-editing: Karolína Matušková

Supporetd by: MČ Praha 7, Magistrát hlavního města Prahy, Ministerstvo kultury ČR.