Milena Dopitová: Even Odd

Milena Dopitová is an intermedia artist who made her entrance onto the Czech art scene in the early 1990s. After the fall of the communist regime, new possibilities and themes emerged in visual art in the then Czechoslovakia. In her works, Dopitová has long expressed her interest in human intimacy and everyday life. She addresses identity politics by using simple, almost metaphorical objects and transforming their ordinary purpose into a deeper message. This approach also appears in her project dedicated to the 2022 Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which we are now bringing to the Trade Fair Palace.

Dopitová presents human society as a majestic building. The bonds and ties that bind us together are an immanent, solid structure. They ensure the stability of the entire structure we call “society”, even though it is a system composed of many different elements. The abstract bonds are flexible enough to allow the whole to be in constant motion. The Trade Fair Palace is a place of meeting and of the mutual exchange of experiences. The pieces displayed convey a message of connection; they can be put together or taken apart in various ways, and yet they still work together in terms of composition.

In the exhibited objects, intimacy is both personal and public. Personal ties become political and vice versa. Europe is made up of historically distinct cultures that can hardly be reduced to nations. Dopitová’s objects point to heterogeneity as the key characteristic of society. It is the coexistence of different elements that creates stability and harmony. In a world where tensions keep rising, balance is a privilege. Empathy and sensitivity are values that need to be cultivated on a daily basis, because the sun does not always shine for everyone.