Schedule:
18:30 – Doors open (Klub zastupitelů)
19:00 – Ceremony begins
Who Deserves Recognition?
The art collective měkký í, founded at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Brno University of Technology (FaVU VUT), invites the public to the ceremonial inaugural edition (Year Zero) of the Order of the White Lioness award. The seventh installment of STÁTKY will take place as an artistically conceived ceremony presenting the foundations of this newly established award and its first laureates.
In what ways could our society honor individual and collective merits so that it truly serves as an act of strengthening democratic values? For měkký í, a key strategy lies in thoroughly contemplating the methodology behind selecting award recipients. The Order of the White Lioness is thus based on a transparent system of delegating the authority to confer the award.
October 28 – Investiture Day
From the perspective of the state, the national holiday on October 28 is the most significant day of the year. On this day, commemorative and remembrance acts take place to mark the founding of Czechoslovakia, along with the official state honors ceremony held in the Vladislav Hall. The collective měkký í critically reflects on political issues through a feminist lens, utilizing the symbolic potential of this day to highlight factors they feel the practice of awarding state honors overlooks: “As the project's title suggests, our stance toward the tradition of conferring orders is critical, and we view its current form as insufficiently inclusive regarding the meaning of heroism and merit. At the same time, we consider the core concept of granting state honors to be valuable—both for its potential psychological impact on marginalized, exceptional individuals and for the role it can play in legitimizing and raising the visibility of people with non-majority life experiences.”
Artists
měkký í is an art collective consisting of three visual artists: Michaela Kocandová, Zuzana Staňková, and Valentýna Vránová. Thematically, it focuses on reflecting on the contemporary art scene and social affairs, grounded in intersectional feminism. Their works most frequently take the form of private or public happenings and performances, often infused with a gentle, Saturnin-esque sense of humor.
Michaela Kocandová is an artist whose individual practice connects original texts and poetry with minimalist video accompaniment, or utilizes subtle gestures as a medium for expression and commentary. Thematically, she enjoys exploring fragile moments in relationships.
Zuzana Staňková is an artist and educator. Her work focuses on walking as a meeting point for all the content that fills public space and social life. She is interested in how social inequalities, power-driven urbanism, and environmental destruction permeate a seemingly neutral activity. Her works are always politically engaged, though not always explicitly so, and are guided by an effort toward material and expressive minimalism. Although her roots lie in illustration and graphic arts, most of her practice takes the shape of staged readings or performance. She writes poetry.
Valentýna Vránová is an artist originally from Jihlava, currently based in Brno. She is the lead vocalist of the band Armáda špásy. She creates multimedia installations that frequently stem from her personal diary entries. Her practice is auto-referential, focusing primarily on themes of sexuality, queerness, interpersonal relationships, playfulness, inclusivity, and ways of perceiving the world through neurodivergence.
