BATEŽO KA MIKILU: Zastávka A project by Kateřina Šedá Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig Ihr könnt nach Zastávka kommen und versuchen hier etwas Interessantes zu finden. Das Dorf ist auf allen Seiten von Wald umgeben. Nicht nur Hundebesitzer und Liebespaare mögen ihn. 6 7 Můžete přijet do Zastávky a pokusit se tu najít něco zajímavého. Lesy obklopují obec ze všech stran. Oblíbili si je nejen pejskaři a zamilované páry. 8 9 Willkommen in Zastávka – Zastávka wurde im Jahr 1755 gegründet, dank der Entdeckung eines Steinkohlevorkommens. Das Dorf liegt 20 km von Brno entfernt und hat heute eine Einwohnerzahl von 2,500. 10 11 Vítá vás obec Zastávka – Zastávka byla založena v roce 1755 díky nalezení ložiska černého uhlí. Nachází se 20 km od Brna a dnes zde žije 2500 obyvatel. Fahr langsam! Du könntest ein Kind aus dem Kinder- und Jugendzentrum überfahren. 12 13 Zpomal! Můžeš srazit děcka z Domova dětí a mládeže. Auf der linke Seite wird auf dem Fußballplatz gerade der Rasen gemäht. Auf dem Mäher sitzt Herr Štukl. Der Bürgermeister ist gerade in der Kneipe. 14 15 Vlevo na hřišti se zrovna seče trávník. Štukl sedí na sekačce. Starosta je zrovna v hospodě. Unser Lieblingsschaukelnetz, das „Nest“, wo wir uns entspannen wenn wir mal eine Freistunde haben. 16 17 Naše oblíbená houpačka „hnízdo“, kam se chodíme vyvalit o volný hodině. Eine mit Nachrichten vollgekrakelte Tribüne. 18 19 Tribuna plná vzkazů. Wir können nicht verstehen wie jemand 10 Kronen für eine Fahrt vom Bahnhof ins Oberdorf von Zastávka bezahlen kann, nur um nicht den Hügel rauflaufen zu müssen. „Ich lebe hier schon sieben Jahre aber ich bin bis jetzt nur drei Mal unten in Zastávka gewesen.“ 20 21 Nechápem, jak může někdo zaplatit 10 Kč za to, aby se nechal vyvézt od nádraží na horní zastávku kvůli tomu, že by nemusel šlapat kopec. „Bydlím tu sedm let, ale jenom třikrát jsem byla dole v Zastávce.“ Man könnte diese Straße „Lehrer-undAngestellten-Straße“ nennen. Direktor Kroutil wohnt hier um die Ecke. 22 23 Tady by se to dalo nazvat ulice zaměstnanců a učitelů školy. Za rohem bydlí ředitel Kroutil. Jeder hat hier seinen eigenen Pool. Nicht laut rufen, der Wald ist in der Nähe! 24 25 Každý má svůj bazén. Nekřičte, blízko je les! 26 27 Ohne Titel. 28 29 Bez názvu. 30 31 3332 V Zastávce si jsou všichni rovni… až na ptáky. 35 Jeder ist gleich in Zastávka …außer die Vögel. 34 Das Altenheim und Babetas Viertel – Es ist direkt gegenüber von der Schule und wir sagen oft, dass wir dort landen werden sobald wir mit der Schule fertig sind. Es heißt Babetas Viertel nach unserer Freundin Alžběta, die wir “Babeta” nennen. Sie lebt in einem der ältesten Backsteinhäuser in Zastávka. 36 37 Domov důchodců a Babetina čtvrť – Je to naproti škole a často říkáme, že až vylezem ze školy, tak skončíme rovnou tam. Babetina čtvrť se jmenuje podle naší kamarádky Alžběty, které říkáme Babeta. Bydlí v jednom z nejstarších cihlových domků v Zastávce. “Lucka, der Baum sieht wie ein Fingerabdruck aus.” – “Kinder, lasst uns arbeiten. Wir haben noch ungefähr 150 Wände übrig.” 38 39 „Lucko, ten strom vypadá jako otisk prstu.“ – „Děcka, makáme, zbývá nám ještě asi 150 stěn.“ Hinter uns die Schule; hundert Meter weiter, Rosice. 40 41 Za náma škola, o sto metrů dál Rosice. Wir gehen hier jeden Tag zur Schule. Hier gibt es alles: einen Kindergarten, eine Grundschule, ein Gymnasium und sogar eine Musik- und Kunstschule und eine Bibliothek. 42 43 Sem chodíme každej den do školy. Je tady všecko přes školku, základku, gympl a dokonce i ZUŠka a knihovna. Und um die Schule herum ist ein Park mit etwas Wald wo die Schüler zum Rauchen hingehen. 44 45 A kolem školy je lesopark, kam si chodí děcka zapálit. 46 47 48 49 Der Alptraum der Schüler – ein steiler Anstieg führt zur Schule. 50 51 Noční můra studentů – ke škole vede strmý kopec. 52 53 Der Grundstein des Dorfes ist verschwunden und nun bauen sie dort noch mehr Wohnhäuser. 54 55 Základní kámen obce je pryč a místo toho budou další bytovky. Parken ist glücklicherweise kein Problem in Zastávka. Besonders in den ältesten Teilen des Dorfs. 56 57 Naštěstí není v Zastávce problém s parkováním. Obzvláště v nejstarší části obce. 58 59 Wir gingen auf einer Straße den Hügel hinauf in der alle Wohnhäuser genau gleich waren und wo die Menschen selten ihre Türen für dich öffnen. Jetzt gehen wir den Hügel wieder hinunter. 60 61 Vyšli jsme na kopec po ulici plné naprosto stejně vypadajících bytovek, kde vám málokdo otevře. A jdeme zase dolů. In Zastávka verändern sich die Ansichten schnell. 62 63 Pohled na Zastávku se rychle mění. 64 65 Die Stadtverwaltung –Öffnungszeiten: Montags 8–12 Uhr und 13–17 Uhr; Mittwochs 8–12 Uhr und 13–17 Uhr. Bürgermeister: Dr. rer. nat. Petr Pospíšil Vizebürgermeister: Zdeněk Milan Tel. 546 429 048 Email: ou@zastavka.cz Zastávka 14 Hutní Osada 664 84 Zastávka Einwohnerzahl (31/12/2012): 2,513 Statistische Angaben 1971–2012 Geboren 31 Gestorben 41 Zugezogen 92 Weggezogen 69 Natürlicher Bevölkerungszuwachs -10 Bevölkerungszuwachs durch Zuzug 24 Bevölkerungszuwachs gesamt 14 66 67 Obecní úřad – úřední dny: Pondělí 8–12 hod. a 13–17 hod.; Středa 8–12 hod. a 13–17 hod. Starosta: RNDr. Petr Pospíšil Místostarosta: Zdeněk Milan Telefon: 546 429 048 Email: ou@zastavka.cz Obec Zastávka Hutní osada 14 664 84 Zastávka Počet obyvatel (31/12/2012): 2 513 Aritmetický průměr dat mezi lety 1971–2012 Narození 31 Zemřelí 41 Přistěhovalí 92 Vystěhovalí 69 Přírůstek přirozený -10 Přírůstek migrační 24 Přírůstek celkový 14 Im Dorfzentrum gibt es Fabriken. Der Besitzer von Metalpres fährt einen Audi. 68 69 Uprostřed obce jsou továrny majitel Metalpresu jezdí v audině. Das Zastávkische Sibirien– hier ist die Zeit irgendwann in der 1. Hälfte des 20ten Jahrhunderts stehengeblieben. 70 71 Zastávecká Sibiř – čas se tu zastavil někdy v první polovině minulého století. 72 73 Steine. 74 75 Šutry. 76 77 Auf der Hauptstraße finden wir das älteste Haus in Zastávka, das Grubenhaus, und eine Kapelle, die einmal ein Selbstbedienungssupermarkt war. Wenn wir ein bisschen weiter gehen kommen wir zu einer kleinen Grasinsel; die Schüler überqueren sie um Abkürzungen zu machen, was sinnlos ist. 78 79 Na hlavní ulici najdeme nejstarší budovu Zastávky Hornický dům a původní samoobsluhu, která byla později přestavěna na kapli, o kousek dál je ostrůvek, kudy si studenti nesmyslně zkracují cestu. Die Straße des 1. Mai – hier könnte Ihre Werbung stehen. Auf der anderen Straßenseite ist der fast immer leere Bendlplatz mit seinem Denkmal für die Soldaten der Roten Armee. Hier findet jedes Jahr die Feier zum 1. Mai statt. 80 81 Ulice 1. máje – místo pro vaši reklamu. Naproti je opuštěné Bendlovo náměstí s památníkem vojáků Rudé armády, kde se každý rok konají oslavy 1. máje. Noch letztes Jahr war hier das Permoník Café. So schade, dass es zugemacht hat. Hier gab es gute Caesar-Salate und Kaffee. 82 83 Tohle byla ještě loni kavárna Permoník, škoda že to zavřeli. Měli tam dobrý salát Caesar a kafe. Überraschenderweise hingen dort Bilder mit historischen Ansichten von Zastávka und noch überraschender war das Verhalten der Bedienung. 84 85 Překvapivě tam visely historické fotky Zastávky a ještě překvapivější bylo chování obsluhy. Nur wenige Leute sind hinter der Kapelle gewesen. Man sagt, dass sich dort einer erhängt hat. 86 87 Málokdo byl za kaplí, prý se tam oběsil nějaký chlap. In der Nähe des Grubenhauses gibt es viele Läden und eine gute Bäckerei. Die Klappmesser lebt hier; sie war mal unsere Lehrerin. 88 89 Blízko Horňáku je hodně obchodů a dobrá pekárna, na této ulici bydlí Kudla, naše bývalá učitelka. Es gibt hier zwar keine Kirche, aber dafür haben wir Zeugen Jehovahs, die durch ihre vielen Besuche etwas Freude in das Leben der einsamen Dorfbewohner bringen. Auf der anderen Straßenseite ist eine Poliklinik, eine Apotheke und die einzige kulturelle Institution in Zastávka – das Arbeiterhaus [Dělnický dům]. 90 91 Sice tu není kostel, ale zato tu máme Jehovisty, kteří obšťastňují osamělé místní obyvatele jejich častými návštěvami. Naproti je poliklinika, lékárna a jediný kulturní sál v Zastávce – Dělnický dům. 92 93 “Kein Metallschrott ist wie Metallschrott; versuchen Sie’s bei Barko Schrott.” Das Hauptproblem des Dorfs ist der viele Verkehr. 94 95 „Není šrot jako šrot, zkuste Barko kovošrot.“ Hlavním problémem obce je hustá doprava. 96 97 98 99 Im Bahnhof sieht man die meisten Leute an einem Ort. 100 101 Na zastáveckém nádraží můžete vidět nejvíce lidí na jednom místě. 102 103 104 105 “Ich lebe hier, weil ich von hier aus am schnellsten in die Stadt komme.” 106 107 „Bydlím tady, protože se odsud rychle dostanu do města.“ 108 109 Wir warten oft hier wegen verspäteter Zügen. Zastávka – Babice u Rosic Zastávka – Říčany Zastávka – Ostrovačice Zastávka – Říčky u Brna Zastávka – Náměšť nad Oslavou Zastávka – Sudice Zastávka – Brno, Lišeň Zastávka – Vienna Die stillgelegten Schienen erinnern uns an die Hochbahn von New York und hier hängen Teenager und andere Leute von der anderen Schienenseite ab. 110 111 Často tady čekáme kvůli zpoždění vlaku. 2.1 km 5.7 km 5.7 km 9.4 km 17 km 12 km 31 km 147 km Opuštěné koleje nám připomínají newyorský Highline a přesně tam se zašívají puberťáci a jiná individua z částí Zastávky za kolejema. 113112 115114 116 117 Das Flüchtlingsheim. Es gibt hier auch einen Times Square (einen kleinen Platz, den wir nach dem Uhrmacherladen benannt haben) und ein ehemaliges Trainingszentrum für Terroristen. 118 119 Uprchličák. Je tam i Times square (plácek, který jsme nazvali podle hodinářství) a škola, kde dříve probíhal výcvik teroristů. 120 121 123122 Čumenda je ulice, kde jsou bytovky a lidi rádi pozorují ostatní na ulici z pohodlí jejich domova. 125 Čumenda ist eine Straße mit Wohnhäusern und Menschen, die vorbeigehende Passanten gerne vom Komfort ihrer Wohnungen aus beobachten. 124 124 126 127 Ich Liebe Zastávka. 128 129 I Love Zastávka. 130 131 At six and sevens ... Ximaiossequos aut qui consendamet perspedis rerae re voluptae voloratus. 132 Map of ... Quia dolupta temporerest facepe a autas idiam, simagnihilis delibusda vit ad quis ni comnihi. 133 134 135 Model of ... Os etur santius. Uciendita ium sunt latatin exeriberror sitat pa ped qui testotae dolorro derio. 136 Not only dog-walkers and lovebirds are fond of them. Welcome to the village of Zastávka – Zastávka was founded in 1755 thanks to the discovery of a seam of hard coal. It lies 20 km from Brno and today has a population of 2,500. Slow down! You might run over a child from the Children and Youth Center. Over on the left, on the playing field, the grass is being cut. Mr. Štukl is sitting on the mower. The mayor is at the pub right now. Our favorite swinging net, the “nest,” where we go to take it easy when we’ve got a free hour. You can come to Zastávka and try to find something interesting here. Woods surround the village on all sides. 137 137 137 137 137 137 137 138 Some bleachers covered with messages. You might call this street “School Teachers and Employees Street.” Principal Kroutil lives around the corner. Untitled. Everyone’s equal in Zastávka … except the birds. We don’t understand how someone can pay 10 crowns to be driven from the station to upper Zastávka just to avoid walking up the hill. “I’ve lived here for seven years, but I’ve only been down in Zastávka three times.” Everyone has their own pool. Don’t shout, the woods are nearby! The Home for the Elderly and Babeta’s Quarter – It’s across the school and we often say that we’ll end up there as soon as we get out of school. 138 138 138 138 138 138 “Lucka, that tree looks like a fingerprint.” – “Let’s work, kids. We’ve got about 150 walls left.” Behind us the school; a hundred meters further on, Rosice. We go to school here every day. There’s everything here: a kindergarten, a primary school, a high school, and even a primary music and arts school and a library. There’s a wooded park around the school where the kids go to light up. The first stone laid in the village is gone and they’re building more apartment houses there. 139 139 139 139 139 139 Babeta’s Quarter is named after our friend Alžběta, who we call “Babeta.” She lives in one of Zastávka’s oldest brick houses. 139 140 140 140 140 140 140 140 The student nightmare – there’s a steep incline leading up to the school. We went up the hill along a street filled with identical apartment houses, where people will rarely open their door for you. Now we’re going downhill again. The municipal office. Office hours are: Mon 8–12 am and 1–5 pm; Wed 8–12 am and 1–5 pm. Mayor – RNDr. Petr Pospíšil Assistant Mayor – Zdeněk Milan Tel. 546 429 048 Village of Zastávka 14 Hutní Osada 664 84 Zastávka Population (as of 31 December 2012): 2,513 Luckily, parking’s not a problem in Zastávka. Particularly in the oldest parts of the village. The views change quickly in Zastávka. There are factories in the center of the village. The owner of Metalpres drives an Audi. The Pink Apartment Houses – far and wide they say we’ve got one of the biggest ghettoes in the country here. A lot of people are afraid to walk around here at night, but the first inhabitants once lived here. Rocks. On the main street we find the oldest house in Zastávka, the Mining House, and a chapel that was once a selfservice supermarket. A bit further on is a little grass island; students take shortcuts across it, which makes no sense. First of May Street – there’s a spot for your ad here. Across the street is the abandoned Bendl Square with its monument to the Red Army soldiers. First of May celebrations take place here every year. Just last year this was the Permoník Café. Too bad it closed. They had good Caesar salads and coffee. Surprisingly, historical pictures of Zastávka were hung there and even more surprising was how the service staff acted. 141 141 141 141 141 141 The Siberia of Zastávka – time stopped here some time in the first half of the 20th century. 141 142 142 142 142 142 142 142 Few people have been behind the chapel. They say some guy hanged himself there. There may not be a church here, but we do have Jehovah’s Witnesses, who brighten up the lives of all the lonely villagers with their frequent visits. “There’s no scrap metal like scrap metal; try Barko Scrap Metal Yard.” The village’s main problem is the heavy traffic. Near the Mining House there are a lot of shops and a good bakery. “Jackknife” lives here; she used to be our schoolteacher. Across the street is a polyclinic, a pharmacy and the only cultural institution in Zastávka – Workers’ House [Dělnický dům]. The most people you’ll see in one place is at Zastávka Station. The abandoned tracks remind us of the New York Highline and that’s where teenagers and other individuals from the other side of the tracks hang out. From here on you’re in Babice. The refugee center. There’s a Times Square there, too (a little square we named after the watch repair shop) and a school were terrorists once received training. We often wait here because of late trains. Zastávka – Babice u Rosic 2.1 km Zastávka – Říčany 5.7 km Zastávka – Ostrovačice 5.7 km Zastávka – Říčky u Brna 9.4 km Zastávka – Náměšť nad Oslavou 17 km Zastávka – Sudice 12 km Zastávka – Brno, Lišeň 31 km Zastávka – Vienna 147 km Čumenda is a street with apartment houses and people who like to watch the passers-by on the street from the comfort of their homes. I Love Zastávka. 143 143 143 143 143 143 “I live here because I can get to the city quickest from here.” 143 144 145 At six and sevens ... Ximaiossequos aut qui consendamet perspedis rerae re voluptae voloratus. 146 Interview with BATEŽO MIKILU (BM) on November 22nd, 2014 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig. Questions by Julia Schäfer, Julia Kurz and Lenka Kukurova (JJL). Answers by Kateřina Šedá (KŠ) were added after the interview in January 2014. 147 JJL: Let’s talk about the beginning of the project. How did you come across Kateřina Šedá? You were only 14 when you started the project. It’s quite unusual to deal with contemporary art as a teenager. BM: Some of us had participated in another one of Kateřina’s projects even before this one, called the “Líšeň Profile”. This was in connection with the private after school art class we attended. But it all started with a funding program helping young people to realize their ideas. And we decided to use this program to help Zastávka because the situation there is complicated. At this stage we didn’t know that we would cooperate with Kateřina. My grandmother works in a gallery (Žorko speaking) and when I was younger she gave me a catalogue – I rediscovered it while cleaning my room. It was a book of Kateřina’s project “For every dog a different master”, so I read it all for the first time and I told to myself: This is exactly what we need! JJL: And you contacted her. We know that it took Kateřina some time to get back to you. What did you do then; what were your first actions or thoughts? BM: First we wanted to identify the problems of Zastávka and we tried to figure out how the other people see Zastávka. We talked to inhabitants and we tried to see things from different perspectives. We wanted to show that we really want to help Zastávka, so, for example, we did the clean-up happening which we did together with Kateřina, not on our own. We met her, talked about our group, what we wanted and we talked about Zastávka. She was interested and wanted to see the village. Half a year later she actually came; Žorko and Karolína met 148 her (Karolína is not part of the group any more). She visited the whole of Zastávka and she said: “This is an amazing village!” She hadn’t seen a village like this anywhere else. Then she offered to do a workshop with us in Valašské Meziříčí, where she had an exhibition. After she left we thought that it was an amazing and unusual thing to be invited by a woman who had only know us for such a short time. JJL: The teenagers said that the situation is “complicated”. Kateřina, what was so fascinating about Zastávka? KŠ: When I walked through the village for the first time I was completely confused. Each side of the village looks very different from the other: on one side there is a small picturesque street on the other a factory. At the end of the village is a home for the elderly and not far away a school hidden in a grove. A main road is situated right in front of the Miner’s House, one has difficulties crossing it because there is so much traffic, and just next to it is an overgrown wood avoided by everyone. It is as if everything had been thrown into one pile – simply at sixes and sevens. I was hopelessly trying to get orientation and to find the middle of the village but without success... At the beginning I thought that I was interested in the village itself, but later on I found that it was something else. Because Zastávka has the same problems that a fourteen years old student faces. That place was a reflection of the students themselves: everyone at this age is looking for their centre (what they will do in life), for their place. Of course ones immediate environment is a kind of centre in this age, just like in the case of this village. BA 149 I was fascinated by the idea that the students by finding their own place in life could help Zastávka to do the same. Of course this would happen through that which naturally connects them: Zastávka and the behaviour of teenagers are both simply at sixes and sevens. JJL: So then the process started. What did you do during the workshop in Valašské Meziříčí? BM: We brought 20 ideas about what we would like to do in Zastávka and then we did an exercise during which we had to keep saying things about us and about Zastávka. That lasted several hours and we still had to come up with new things all the time. Then we presented all our ideas to Kateřina and she showed us all of her projects; what and how she does things and why. It was very interesting but very 150 hard at the same time because the workshop went on for 2 days and we were talking for 6 hours every day, with very few breaks. At the end of the workshop Kateřina told us that she thought it would be best if we would do the project together with her and that she would really like to be part of it. It was also Kateřina’s opinion that the first main problem we would have to solve was that Zastávka does not have a centre. So then each of us drew a small map of the village and afterwards we started to ask people in Zastávka to show us where they thought the centre of the village was on our maps and we also started looking for the centre ourselves. JJL: You asked around 500 people and got so many different answers. What did you find out? BM: We collected around 50 different answers. We also searched for empty places which could be potential centres. Usually these were not mentioned when we asked the villagers. We also tried to find a definition of what a centre should be and did some art exercises; we drew things, for example, or tried to build a model of one of the streets out of biscuits and bonbons. We reacted to the issue of centres in more maps we created later as we walked around looking to find out some new things about Zastávka. We were really trying to change our opinion of Zastávka. Before the project we had seen it as a grey village: there was nothing to do, it was boring. But now we started seeing new things, we found new places. JJL: So you changed your view while the situation remained the same? Was it one of your aims to change your view on Zastavka? 151 BM: We were actively trying to change our opinion; we tried to imagine that we were actual inhabitants of Zastávka, that we liked the place and the streets. Because nobody in Zastávka acts like a local person. If you ask what is so special about Zastávka, why they live there, the first thing they will answer is that it is close to Brno, that you can get there very quickly. The situation in Zastávka is dramatic because many groups of Roma people also live there and they live on one of the main streets in the middle of the village. The centre of Zastávka is in a valley and it spreads up to the hills on each side. People from the hills don’t come to the valley because they don’t want to meet these people. So they only pass through there when they want to go to the train station. I asked one of my friends (Barbora speaking) and she said she had not been in the valley for more TE 152 than a year because she did not want to go there. She just passed through there by car. That’s the reason we started to act like locals. We wanted to be the first locals in that village. JJL: During the happenings you always wore blue shoe covers. Thus you had a kind of costume so people could recognize you. Did you announce your happenings somehow? BM: To say something about the covers – they are a reflection of how the locals behave now. They behave like they are only here for a visit. And if you go to visit somebody in their home you usually put some slippers on, which becomes a symbol for you being a visitor in someone’s house. So the covers were meant to be symbols to reflect their situation. We also did one happening where, for one day, we tried to do the same things that people from Zastávka do. For example, we acted like two kids riding on a bike but we did not have a bike, and we made a video of this. Then we pretended to be a couple with a small baby: we walked behind them and mimicked all the things they did. It was quite provoking, people were looking at us and thought that we were crazy and turned away. JJL: You have videos of these happenings but you decided not to show them in the exhibition. You decided to concentrate on something else in Leipzig. Let’s talk about the Leipzig concept: Kateřina came here first, she took a map and the photos of the gallery and returned to you. She was very fascinated by the building and immediately knew that you would also like it and that you would all find a connection between Zastavka and Leipzig. 153 BM: At this time we met regularly once or twice a week and we wanted to do other happenings in Zastávka also. Katerina came to us and said that we could do this exhibition in Leipzig. We were very excited. She showed us pictures and the ground plan of the gallery and then she asked us: “What does it look like – the shape of the gallery?” It was very funny because she came to our studio and said: “What does this map remind you of?” And we all said: “It is like Zastávka.” This is where the idea came from. Then we tried to draw Zastávka into the gallery plan. The idea was that we would destroy the gallery because we are teenagers, that we are going to do some kind of graffiti. Because the walls in the gallery can be moved we wanted to look at Zastávka from different points of view. The main thing is that, at the moment, we are not solving the problems of Zastávka; we only point them out. ŽO 154 JJL: Kateřina, could you recall your impression of the new building? What impact did it have on you? What did it provoke? KŠ: I have to react to what BM said first, because I don’t agree with it. If someone does not like a place but draws it intensively despite of it they become familiar with the place and this causes a notable change. When I met the students for the first time two years ago I did not hear a single positive comment about Zastávka from them. Now suddenly they like all the walls they painted, they like to think about Zastávka and give visitors guided tours. When we recently wrote the captions for the catalogue they concluded them with the claim: ‘I Love Zastávka’. The students have started to like that place, so obviously one of the main problems has been solved. In addition, the villagers like their KA 155 drawings of the village, they have started to be interested. The local municipality offered help with future happenings organized by the students... That is undoubtedly a solution for the problem! During my first visit to Leipzig I saw the gallery building only from the outside (the floor was freshly painted). I really liked the variability of the space and the possibility of moving the walls very much, only, after one visit, I could not yet find a form for the exhibition that would not be smothered by the building itself. Only after the second visit the penny dropped. When I entered the space I got lost in under two minutes. I tried to photograph the building but without success; all the rooms looked the same in the photos. For an hour I tried to draw the ground plan before giving up and asking Julia Schäfer for one. The impossibility of seeing the building as a whole frustrated me. It was clear that until I could find an exhibition concept which would look like the building was made for it, the building would always be visually dominating the presented works. When I came home I tried to describe to David (my husband) how complicated this building is. Tiredly I told him: „You get lost there immediately. It looks uncomplicated at first sight, but after a while you can’t tell where you have already been and where not. Actually this gallery doesn’t seem to have a centre, that’s how much it’s at sixes and sevens. Just like Zastávka.“ Then David look at me with a smile and said: “Seems like you’ve sorted it out then, doesn’t it?“ That same night I got a map of Zastávka and put it next to the ground plan of the gallery. It was so accurate that it could not have been any better. When I showed the ground plan to the students they agreed nearly immediately. 156 JJL: When you were drawing here it was interesting that, in the end, you said that you love Zastávka just because of this shift of perspective. This is also really amazing in terms of art. We know many projects of artists who go out and work with the public and nonart groups but for me this project is exceptional. First of all because of what it did with you, teenagers, and now also with the people who came here and who have gained a different understanding of art. Did you talk to Kateřina about this perception of art at all? Because it is very different from what one is taught in school. BM: Yes, half a year before the Venice Biennial she taught us how to think outside of school, how to think in a different way from school. We drew things and she discussed them with us: that they should not be like in the school, that we should make them differently. So we drew again and again and we talked about it again and again. For example, we had to draw an apple from six different points of view, ten or twelve times. JJL: She did drawing exercises with you? BM: Yes. Or when we were in Venice we went to see some old paintings and at first we were just passing by the pictures quickly, saying: “Ok, that is nice.” – like the normal visitors. And Kateřina said: “No, you have to come here. Sit and now tell me what you see, what is strange about this painting? It was a Tintoretto. He was occupied with perspective, with creating depth in the picture. And while we were sitting there we saw so many new things and we really got into it. It was so amazing when we sat there in that gallery. Before that I thought that the paintings 157 by the old artists are only pictures and I did not have any special feelings about them. Kateřina said: “Now you have to sit here for 30 minutes and look at this image of Jesus. First we thought that she was crazy. What now? Then, after 15 minutes, the image started to be like 3D, very plastic. I did not know that this effect coulld occur. Kateřina said that many important artists have a way to achieve this effect. We agree with Kateřina’s opinion about art. She said that art is everything that brings something new. JJL: Did she explain why she did these exercises with you? BM: At first she was just curious about what we would want to do as 15 years old children who are interested in their surroundings. Maybe she thought this was quite rare so she should help us, because it would be a MI 158 pity if we stopped. And then she also agreed with our opinion about Zastávka and the problems we saw. She told us that we have to go beyond what school is teaching us (like the exercise with painting the apple) because school is building walls around us and she wanted to break down these walls. JJL: And you understood this? BM: Yes. She said she cannot give up this project because the main thing that interested her was that we had contacted her because we wanted to change something and that kind of thing had never happened to her before. Usually its always she who approaches people and persuades them to cooperate with her. JJL: Kateřina, how would you define your role in the BATEZO KA MIKILU team? What was your impression of the group? What was your role within it? Did you feel you were a teacher / an artist / a member of a group / a city-planner... ? Or did you have several roles? What did you learn as a result of the collaboration with the teenagers? Is it important to ask: Who is the artist? It was never important to you to have your name mentioned first or in bigger letters. You always insisted that the group name should be used. But at the same time: without your energy and effort nothing on this scale would have happened, don’t you think? KŠ: This is a good question and also a complicated one. I have a different role in every project and sometimes I spend several years searching for it. Even though I taught the kids some things my role is not that of a teacher. Neither am I in the role of an artist as I have never yet been able to imagine 159 what that exactly means. Right from the start I only wanted to be visible as part of this group, to be the same as the others. That is why our group is called Batežo Ka Mikilu. My role is actually to be a teenager which is not easy at all. The kids had to accept me in a different way, not as an authority. I, in turn, have to understand them, avoid overwhelming them and to see the world from their perspective. I think this is what my role is – to be one of them. Thanks to the fact that I stepped back from the visibility and gave everyone in the group the same space they truly accepted me. In fact, all I did was to fulfil the spirit of my surname (Šedá = grey). At the same time I learn from them as well, of course. The practical things – how to use my computer better, from facebook to the other ways of communicating. KI 160 And who is the artist? I don’t know and, actually, I don’t care. We wanted to change something together and our collective energy is in that. It is also true that my role is crucial for the motivation and orientation of the group. On the other hand every one of us has a different role to play and it would be unfair to say that any one of them is less important than the others. JJL: Kateřina also told us that this project marks a shift in her way of working. How will you continue the project? Do you still meet up with her regularly? BM: We meet and we are in contact with her. We are planning the things we would like to do in Zastávka in the future, like a bigger happening next year. It’s supposed to last one whole weekend and the topic will be non-traditional tradition. We want it to connect a lot of people. In the past we didn’t do things with people and the people from Zastávka did not know us so well. But they still talked about us anyway, that we are this crazy group of kids with blue shoe covers. But people did not take part in our happenings; we did not plan it that way before. We will have an official meeting with the mayor of Zastávka, we had an interview with regional television, we had some articles on regional websites and we also had an article in the big national newspaper. That means we have gone public. So we will have to improve our interviews, our speeches. We are trying to get better. JJL: Maybe that is also part of the whole project: that you professionalize yourself. Today you showed the picture of Zastávka in the 1920s and it was of a public square full of people. If you see these kinds of 161 pictures, do you think that the situation in the village was better in the past? BM: I think it was better for the whole village. (Milča speaking) It was better for public life because people met on the streets. They talked and everybody knew each other and they lived like one village, not like a group of separate households. For example we researched how many public activities, parties and balls happened in Zastávka in the past and there were really many of them. There was also a casino and similar places. Now there are very few of these activities and only a small number of people participate in them. Actually, I am not sure if it was better in the past (Lucka speaking) because people now have more freedom, which is the reason why they don’t stay in their own village only. They have lots of friends in other villages so they don’t have such close LU 162 relations with their neighbours. I don’t agree. (Žorko speaking) My opinion is that people are more locked up in their own worlds now, inside their houses and they stay there. They don’t go outside, they don’t walk on the streets or go to the shop in the centre of the village. For them it’s better to go from the house to the garage, take the car and drive to the shopping centre 20 km away from their village to shop there; then to drive back again and go from the garage back to the house. I see this as a big problem nowadays. This is a problem you will find in many places which means we can compare it. So the problems of Zastávka are also our problems. But this project shows that you can make a change. You don’t have to follow the same routine and that is a big deal already. On November 22nd a whole busload of Zastávka inhabitants came to Leipzig to see your Zastávka. This in itself is a massive success in the process of changing something. They travelled and wanted to see what you did and what you have done for two years now. It was wonderful to meet them and to talk to your teachers and parents. People found places in the exhibition where they do actually meet in reality. And they made pictures and took paper and pencils to draw their Zastávka in Leipzig in order to create a new postcard for the city. JJL: If you could make a wish for Zastávka, what would you change? BM: I want to change a lot of things (Milča speaking), but the main thing for now is that I want the people living in Zastávka to be proud of their village and not to say that everything is better somewhere else. I wish that they would see Zastávka the way we see it now. 163 If I could make one wish (Lucka speaking), I would wish them to be happy because if someone is happy it means he or she is doing things right. I would wish for the people in Zastávka (Terka speaking) to feel so close to the village so that they would want to improve it of their own accord and that they would want to create something for themselves to have fun. That would also improve their relationships with each other. I would wish for the people to erase the borders in their thinking (Barbora speaking) because I think there are a lot of stereotypes, especially in Zastávka, also concerning Roma people. I would like them to become one village and overcome their prejudices and I wish for them to be open minded. I think the same as everyone (Žorko speaking). And I have a special wish that if you ask people in the Czech republic how they are, they would not complain and they would not talk about the problems and about what they don’t like and what they would like to do but can’t... I would like to change the behaviour of people to be more optimistic and to cooperate with each other, to trust each other more. I think Zastávka is a small example for the whole of the Czech republic and the situation it is in. Maybe people have to overcome some of their fears. We are a group of 6 people (Milča speaking), we are teenagers and we are also very different from each other but we want to tolerate each other and to cooperate with each other because we care about each other. Tolerance exists and if people want to, they can really cooperate. It is not that difficult. For me Zastávka is such an amazing place (Žorko speaking) – of course first I thought it was a very ugly village where no one wants to live. But now I think it is a village that shows us different types 164 of living. For me it is like a kind of gallery where different kinds of people are exhibited. In every quarter in Zastávka there is something else: some parts are nicer some are really ugly, more industrial; one part looks as if you were in the city. That is very interesting to me because I have never seen a village which is so diverse, so rich. I think this isn’t a problem for Zastávka, I think it is good to let it remain as it is, as it looks now. The most important thing is to create new connections between people because people can change this village, because people are the village. KŠ: I truly wish that the things we helped to move would continue moving by themselves. This would be a kind of confirmation that it can keep on working without my influence and that would really be the best result. If I’d have had to organize the trip to the exhibition in Leipzig I would have just repeated the model which I have used before in my work. But because this initiative came without me it is simply fantastic. I really wanted to take part in the trip but, unfortunately, I had to be somewhere else. On the other hand I realized that this could actually help the group - attention would be focussed more on the kids, they would have to deal with all the visitors from Zastávka themselves and this could be the best motivation for them to learn something. 165 166 Impressum / Imprint Diese Publikation erscheint anlässlich der Ausstellungen / This catalog is published on the occasion of the exhibition “AT SIXES AND SEVENS (VON LINKS NACH SCHRÄG)” Kateřina Šedá in Zusammenarbeit mit BATEŽO MIKILU Stiftung Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig (GfZK) 21. September 2013 bis 5. Januar 2014 Kuratiert von / Curated by: Julia Schäfer Kuratorische Assistenz/Curatorial assistance: Julia Kurz und Lenka Kukurová Katalog / Catalog Herausgeberin / Editor: Julia Schäfer im Auftrag der Stiftung Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig Konzept / Concept: Radim Peško, BATEŽO KA MIKILU (Barbora Křivánková, Tereza Matulová, Georgi Dimitrov, Milena Mařáková, Kristýna Fillová, Lucie Staňková & Kateřina Šedá) Redaktion, Koordination / Editing, Coordination: Julia Schäfer, GfZK Lektorat / Copyediting: Agneta Jilek (Deutsches Lektorat), Lenka Kukurová (Transkription des Interviews), Alexander Schneider (Englisches Lektorat) Übersetzung/ Translation: Alexander Schneider (Englisch/ Deutsch) Grafische Gestaltung / Graphic design: Radim Peško Schrift / Typeface: Specta Papier / Paper: Reproduktionen / Edition: 1000 Bildnachweis / Photocredits: Sebastian Schröder (Installationsfotos / installation photos) Courtesy: Kateřina Šedá, Franco Soffiantino Arts Production, Turin und Galerie Arratia Beer, Berlin © 2014, GfZK, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig, Kateřina Šedá / the artist, die Fotograf_innen / the photographers und die Autor_innen / and the authors Umschlagabbildung / Cover illustration: 167 Verlag / Publisher: Spectormag GbR. Gesellschafter: Markus Dreßen, Anne König, Jan Wenzel. Anschrift / Adress: arkortstraße 10, 4107 Leipzig, Germany. Tel.: 0049 (0) 341 2645 1012, Fax.: 0049 (0) 341 2122 411, email: mail@spectorbooks.com ISBN: ?????????????????? Die Realisierung der Ausstellung und des Kataloges wurde großzügig unterstützt von: / Realization of the exhibition and catalog was generously supported by: Franco Soffiantino Art Productions, (Please provide logo) Die Realisierung des Kataloges wurde großzügig unterstützt von die Gemeinde von Zastávka. / Publishing of the catalog was generously supported by the municipality of Zastávka. Thank you: Georgi Dimitrov st., Vladimíra Dimitrova, Zita Dočkalová, Pavel Filla, Romana Fillová, Sára Hloušková, Martin Horký, Karolína Jandáková, Monika Ježová, Julie Klusáková, Eva Kokešová, Markéta Kratochvílová, Petr Kroutil, Milena Krupicová, Robert Křivánek, Iva Křivánková, Stanislav Mařák, Milena Mařáková, Martin Matula, Petr Matula, Pavlína Matulová, Zdeněk Milan, David Ondra, Alžběta Oujezská, Radim Peško, Petr Pospíšil, Franco Soffiantino, Miloš Staněk, Milena Staňková, Hana Šedá, ????????German missing????????????? / to all participants of the excursion and to all inhabitants of the village Zastávka. 168