Opening: 26. 6. 2025, at 6 p.m.
Curator: Zuzana Janečková
Exhibition duration: 27. 6. 2025 – 5. 10. 2025
Alžbetina 22, Košice
As ecological and environmental issues become ever more pressing, experts and academics from various fields are seeking out new ways of ensuring symbiotic co-existence. Botanical gardens serve as unique points of intersection between the natural world, scientific inquiry, education and artistic inspiration. As with galleries, they fulfil several crucial roles, ranging from enabling scientific research and forming collections to educating the general public and providing a space for relaxation and contemplation. This exhibition and academic project explores the interconnections between the two institutional microcosms of the botanical garden and the gallery through an interdisciplinary dialogue which aims to forge a new shared “biotope”. It probes the relationship between natural and cultural heritage, thereby facilitating exchanges of expertise, collections and audiences and emphasizing the mutual interconnections between the fields of the natural sciences and art. This dialogue is reflected both in the thematic focus and also in the practical realizations of the individual parts of the exhibitions.
The concept revolves around the parallel exploration of the botanical and artistic worlds, revealing their mutual interconnections and endless potential for interpretation. Living plant communities and biotopes are placed into confrontation with their artistic representations. The project draws upon the collections of the Botanical Garden, the East Slovak Gallery and those of the artists themselves and is intended to serve as a substrate for the emergence of new artworks focused on the central motif of the plant world in its various forms (gardens, parks, woods, primeval forests, jungles).
Fostering a multilayered dialogue between nature and culture, science and art, and protection and presentation, the project highlights the need to adopt a holistic approach to contemporary environmental issues. It draws attention to the new queer materiality which combines a wide range of organic and inorganic materials, recognising their mutual relationships and hierarchies, the importance of hybridity and the participation of all in the co-creation of life in any type of society. This dialogue and cooperation can serve as a forum for the exchange of knowhow, information, acquisitions, audiences and shared values. The basic idea and concept reflect the parallels between the two worlds and encourage their limitless tangents and mutual benefits. By drawing connections between collections of botanical specimens and works of art, we can identify new perspectives on humanity’s relationship with the natural environment and our responsibility to preserve it for future generations, a key priority of both institutions. The East Slovak Gallery and the Botanical Garden of UPJŠ were established in the same period of time, in 1951 and 1950, respectively, and they have both operated without interruption since their foundation. The remarkable nature of the connections between these two institutions lies not only in their use of the each other’s specific spaces and facilities, but also in the exchanges of objects from their collections, their expertise, interconnected priorities and research into the behaviour and responses of their respective audiences during the course of these exchanges. This experiment in cooperation was initiated by the Botanical Garden and demonstrates the similarities which the two institutions share and their common interest in the conservation and protection of our national heritage – both cultural and natural.
The exhibition project consists of three successive exhibitions which will be held consecutively from June to September in both institutions.
Jungle / 26. 6. 2025 at 6pm / VSG / Alžbetina 22 / group exhibition
Botanical Garden / 18. 7. at 6pm / Botanical Garden of UPJŠ / group exhibition
Veronika Lukášová / Market Forces / 9. 9. at 6pm / VSG / Q / Hlavná 27 / solo exhibition
From 9. 9 to 11. 9. 2025 the Botanical Garden of UPJŠ will host an= scientific conference on the theme of Biodiversity in the Plant Kingdom in the Era of Climate Change / Hlavná 27
List of exhibiting authors:
Alžběta Bačíková, Katarína Bajkayová, Jozef Bendík, Michaela Casková, Xénia Columby-Sinayová, András Cséfalvay, Andrea Čepiššáková, Lucia Gašparovičová, Lenka Glisníková, Katarína Hládeková, Anežka Horová, Oto Hudec, Anetta Mona Chişa, Eva Jaroňová, Gréta Kenderová, Konštantín Kövári-Kačmarik, Matouš Lipus, Kata Mach, Jarmila Mitríková, Juliana Mrvová, Teodor Jozef Mousson, Kristína Rambousek, Lívia Rášová, Alexandra Smolková, Juliana Sokolová, Maja Štefančíková, Ivan Šafranko, Tatiana Takáčová, Klára Trsková, Eugen Wallachy
The East Slovak Gallery in cooperation with the Botanical Garden of the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.
