EVA KOťátková:The Heart of a Giraffe in Captivity is Twelve kilos Lighter
20 .4. - 24.11. 2024
Czech and Slovak pavilion, Giardini
The Heart of a Giraffe in Captivity is Twelve Kilos Lighter tells the story of Lenka the giraffe, drawing on the history of Czechoslovakia’s acquisition of animals from the Global South in the 1950s. Interpreted through contemporary ecological and decolonial perspectives, the project builds a space for imagining a different way of relating to nature in the present day. The story of Lenka the giraffe gave impetus to the collaborative project of one of the most significant Czech artists, Eva Koťátková. Lenka was captured in Kenya in 1954 and was transported to the Prague Zoo to become the first Czechoslovak giraffe. She survived only two years in captivity, after which her body was donated to the National Museum in Prague, where it was exhibited as a museum artefact until 2000.
The project is curated by Hana Janečková and created in collaborationwith Himali Singh Soin, David Soin Tappeser (Hylozoic/Desires), GesturingTowards Decolonial Futures, and groups of children and seniors. The commissioner of Czech representation at the 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia is Michal Novotný, Director of the Collection of Art after 1945 at the National Gallery Prague.
Eva Koťátková’s collaborative project for the Czech representation reimagines Lenka’s story asa poetic, embodied encounter for the audience, the invited collaborators, and the artist, but also as a place of critical intervention in the relationship between institutions and the natural world. “I see Lenka’s story as much more than an exhibition project, but also as an open framework where silenced voices and multiple, unofficial histories can be heard. I am very grateful for all the inspiring collaborations that will hopefully continue and that will keep evolving even after the biennale exhibition is over. I strongly believe that telling the story of Lenka in schools and in other non-artistic contexts is equally important, in order to stimulate imagination about other, more equal and empathic worlds,”says Eva Koťátková.The project aims to question hierarchies, violence, and extractive practices embedded in the way we encounter, view, and learn about animals, suggesting different modes of engagement where care,imagination, and emotion are a simportant as historical narrative.
Photo © Aleksandra Vajd, NGP
Illustrations © Eva Koťátková