“For thousands of years humankind avoided this cursed place.”

Is there any wilderness left? Authorial audiovisual production by Peter Gonda about the blurry line between intact nature and what humankind projects into it.

The Moravian Karst is a protected landscape area with a bordered, delimited, and regulated territory. It witnessed thousands of years of human activity: evidence was found of Neanderthals living in the Kůlna cave 120,000 years ago, and a settlement gradually grew near Stránská skála (the Stránská Rock), today known as Brno. Rich in minerals, the area was marked by mining activities and industrial tradition while the woods became a projection screen for urban dreams about nature that invite us to go for a relaxing stroll. Images from a past long gone and near future. What geological layer will human activity leave behind?

Season 48: Closeness

Peter Gonda
Theatre director, audiovisual artist, VJ, computer programmer. Born in 1983, Peter Gonda studied computer sciences in Bratislava and at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He used to work as a radio presenter (Radio Wave), he co-founded project Easterndaze dedicated to Eastern European alternative music scene and the Baba Vanga label of experimental electronic music. He is a member of a Prague-based audiovisual improvisation group called Kolektiv (The Collective). His theatre work centers on testing post-dramatic staging forms, often with the involvement of non-actors (e.g. he created a series of projects in collaboration with patients of psychiatric hospital Bohnice between 2014 and 2015). His most recent works include productions such as OK Carbon (2021, the Alfréd ve dvoře theatre), based on communication with artificial intelligence software, or stage concert Six Stories of Creation and Extinction (2019).

Matěj Sýkora
Theatre and film set designer with postmodern and imaginative approach to work. He has been a member of authorial collective D’epog led by Lucia Repašská. He has regularly collaborated with Jan Kačena, Peter Gonda, Vojtěch Bárta and Ewa Zembok, especially on the independent scene. He is also a co-author of some HaDivadlo productions (On Anthropocene, Chevengur, Moby Dick), Husa na provázku productions and several CET projects. He received the national Romanian theatre award for his stage design of Schiller's Robbers (2021) at Teatrul Tomcsa Sándor. He was also involved in the set design of films such as Olmo Omerzu. He has also been a member of irregular music collectives and since 2022, he has worked as a teacher at the Theatre Faculty of Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts.

Jonatán Pastirčák
Music producer, composer, sound engineer. He studied at SAE Institute in London. His first music breakthrough happened when he co-founded music group Tucan with his peer Adam Matej. He composed several electronic and electroacoustic music works: as duo Ink Midget & Pjoni he received the Radio Head Award (2011, 2012), he was a member of improvisation groups Veni Academy and Musica False Et Ficta. He collaborated with Ján Šicko or Katarzia and others. So far, he has performed in Germany, Poland, Norway, the UK and Ukraine. He regularly composes music for theatre and dance productions (Skrat, Trakt), he co-created audiovisual installations and performances (Plain, performed during Pioneer Works in New York). His film music work includes acclaimed documentary films Meciar (2017), Caught in the Net (2020) and Lines (2022) as well as feature films such as Dirt (2017) and Arved (2022).

Michal Kindernay
Artist, curator and educator. His audiovisual installations connect the fields and tools of art, technology and science. He often touches upon the topics of ecology and reflects on environmental issues by applying technological approaches towards nature. His works include video performances and interactive installations, intermedia and documentary projects and music sound compositions. He co-founded arts organization called yo-yo, he initiated project RurArtMap, he was a member of the collective in the Školská 28 gallery. As a teacher, he has worked in the new Master's programme at Prague College and externally in the Centre of audiovisual studies at the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. As an artist and organizer, he has participated at a number of international exhibitions, fine art, music, theatre and film projects.