The exhibition TRANSFORMA presents an overview of the work of artists from the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary who, over the past three decades, have been responding to the cultural, social, and political consequences of the post-1989 transformation. Through works by more than twenty artists and artistic groups, the exhibition opens the question of how art has reflected—and continues to reflect—the transformation of society, the economy, and human identity in the Central European context.
The exhibition understands transformation as a layered process—a palimpsest—in which ideals and disillusionments overlap, as do emancipation and loss of meaning, local experience and global connections. The exhibited works explore shifts in political and cultural language, post-industrial heritage, the impacts of the neoliberal economy, ecological upheavals, and contemporary manifestations of power, identity, and resistance. The curatorial concept assumes that Central Europe remains a sensitive laboratory of critical forms—a space where art becomes a tool of questioning, imagination, and social self-reflection.
Exhibiting artists and groups: Erik Binder, Yael Bartana, Pavlína Fichta Čierna, Jiří Černický, Anna Daučíková, Vladimír Havlík, Rafał Jakubowicz, Szabolcs KissPál, Zdena Koléčková, Grzegorz Klaman, Leszek Knaflewski, František Lozinski o.p.s., Aneta Mona Chisa & Lucia Tkáčová, Milan Kohout, Milan Kozelka, Franciszek Orłowski, Tamara Moyzes & Romane KALE Panthera, Ilona Németh, PodeBal, Rafani, Joanna Rajkowska, Grupa Sędzia Główny (Karolina Wiktor, Alexandra Kubiak), András Sólyom, Michał Szlaga, Jaśmina Wójcik, Alicja Żebrowska, Artur Żmijewski
Curators: Tomáš Koudela, František Kowolowski, Grzegorz Klaman
In collaboration with: Magdalena Radomska, Tereza Čapandová
Venue: FUTUREUM (Ostrava, Dolní oblast Vítkovice, Vítkovice 3044)
Opening: 3. 12. 2025, 19.00.
The exhibition runs until the end of 2025.
The ticket price is 50 CZK per person.
The exhibition will be open from Friday to Sunday. (Please check the opening hours during the holidays.)
The exhibition is part of the Transforma project, financially supported by the budget of the Statutory City of Ostrava. The Transforma project also includes the exhibition T–LAB 01 at the neighbouring gallery GDM Contemporary (opening at 18:00). More information about T–LAB 01: www.gdmcontemporary.com.
Project partners: FUTUREUM, GDM Contemporary, Ostravská univerzita (Pedagogická fakulta, Fakulta umění), GDM ART z.s., Fundacja Wyspa Progress, Centrum Badań nad Sztuką Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej i Dziedzictwem Piotra Piotrowskiego
