In
her work explores how folk art – which grew out of and
reflected human needs, and should thus be a foundation for our
culture – became exotic territory in the 20th century. With an eye
towards the questions of national culture and globalized society the
21st century tries (at worst) to mine what is left of folk culture
and (at best) to find a new relationship to it. Modernism and the
avant-garde, which the 21st century clings to as its rediscovered
roots, represent a layover on the journey back to folk art. This
situation is reflected in the art of Anna
Hulačová,
who places great emphasis on handcrafted, primarily sculptural works,
on materials that emphasize natural and traditional roots, and on
techniques that reflect a sense of sophistication, logic, and
symbolism of folk art. Her interests
also include devotional sculpture, Christianity and the cultures of
indigenous peoples, but also the themes of home and family, which
industrial and post-industrial society have lost touch with.
Hulačová’s study of ethnography and the past is not just an
exploratory expedition or cultural regression – her aim is to find
new possibilities for emotion and spirituality in art, however much
such formulations will sound pretentiously earnest to the modern
intellect.
An excerpt from text by Edith Jeřábková