As part of this year’s Supermarket Art Fair in Stockholm, we had the opportunity to ask several questions to the curator of the Prague gallery Altán Klamovka, Lenka Sýkorová. The interview focused on the functioning of an independent art space, curatorial approaches and artist selection, as well as the gallery’s current direction.
How would you describe Altán Klamovka in one sentence?
That’s a very complicated question. Altán Klamovka Gallery is an artist-run space in Prague 5 and I am an independent artist. At the same time, I am an associate professor, teacher and art historian. The gallery is focused on site-specific projects, new media and drawing.
What is key for you when selecting artists?
The key is the combination experiment, because I see the exhibition as a medium and I'm focusing on intermedia artists, performers and designers.
What is the concept of this year’s presentation at Supermarket Art Fair?
I selected the concept for future and I'm focusing on intermedia art and at the same time new media and extended reality.
What makes Altán Klamovka unique within the independent scene?
It's very important because I founded this gallery in 2004 and it is still non-profit and I'm still the founder. This is the conception - that it's important to build the culture from the ground up, from the roots of culture, and I’m trying to avoid dependence on support from private spaces.
How important is space in your curatorial approach?
Very important, because I had many different aims. At first, I focused only on graphic design, photography and video art - maybe in the zero years. Then, during the first decade of the 21st century, I focused on curatorial experiments. And now I'm focusing on combining exhibitions with a second value, which is inviting artists into the academic space for teaching.
What connects the artists you've selected?
That’s a super question, because I selected the artists based on my previous curatorial experience. For example, the first duo is Ismael de Anda and Eugene Ahn from the USA. I met them through our exchange program at Durden and Ray Gallery in California - and it's on the site-specific project from last year at Altán Klamovka. The second project is with the Macedonian artist Laze Tripkov. He is my doctoral student, but at the same time we made exhibition last year in Malmö at CC Galleri and at the House of Arts in Ústí nad Labem. The third exhibition is with some of the connections exhibiting in July at Altán Klamovka and it is Czech artist Michal Poustka. And the common connection between all of them is extended reality, new media and the future for art, visual art.
