PRAGUE - A jury of independent experts and representatives of the National Gallery Prague and the Slovak National Gallery has selected the winners of an open competition to represent both countries at the 61st Venice Biennale. The winner is The Silence of the Mole, a project by the duo Alex Selmeci & Tomáš Kocka Jusko, artist Jakub Jansa and artist and curator Peter Sit.
In 2026, the Czech and Slovak Pavilions at the Venice Biennale will celebrate the centenary of their opening, and this was one of the reasons why the competition was commissioned to design an art project for the joint presentation of the two countries.
Seventeen art projects were submitted to the competition by teams of Czech and Slovak artists and curators. The competition and the jury, including its composition, were designed to guarantee the independence and expertise of the selection of the winning project.
Project The Silence of the Mole was evaluated as the best, both because of its clarity in the international context and in terms of complex work with the space of the pavilion and the context of the joint presentation. The jury also appreciated the elaboration of the submitted proposal, which combines a historical reflection of the common pavilion with a current critical perspective on the cultural representation of Czech and Slovak identity in the context of the Venice Biennale. The concept is clear and understandable, but at the same time contains many layers of associations to sources from Czech and Slovak culture and how it embodied the concept of our identity. The jury appreciated the project's balanced yet coherent integration of the work of all participants from both countries, as well as its interdisciplinary format, combining film, performance and installation.
The Venice International Art Biennale is a global forum and an open field for exhibiting and connecting current trends in art. Every two years, what resonates most in contemporary international artistic approaches is confronted in national pavilions and in curated exhibitions at the Giardini and the Arsenale. Chief curator of the 61st. Biennial of Art, which is entitled In Minor Keys, has been selected Koyo Kuouoh. This theme and the curatorial concept as proposed by the chief curator will be respected despite her recent sudden death. Biennial of Art 2026 will take place from 9 May to 23 November 2026.
About the winning project called The Silence of the Mole
The central character is Mr. K. - an exhausted actor who has played the character of Mole for decades. From the original embodiment of the world of childhood innocence and poetic silence, he has become the mascot of cultural diplomacy, the object of licensing and nostalgic myths. He is sent to represent the Czech and Slovak Republics as a diplomatically acceptable, politically neutral figure, but one who also embodies remorse, silence and confused identity.
The Silence of the Mole develops the theme of Czech-Slovak coexistence, collective memory and ecological fatigue. It opens the question of what happens to the imagination when it becomes a public mask. The exhibition will appeal to a wide international audience with its visual legibility, strong emotional atmosphere and language-independent dramaturgy.
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