This group exhibition offers an immersion into the world of a new generation of Czech photographers, highlighting the richness of their practices and the diversity of their perspectives. Rejecting any predetermined theme or form, the project above all celebrates the plurality of contemporary approaches.
While photography has long served to immortalise joyful moments, its relationship to reality has evolved over time, becoming more layered and anchored in social, critical, and emotional dimensions. Joy, far from having disappeared, now reveals itself in subtler, more intimate and nuanced ways. It invites viewers to engage more deeply with the works, and to tune in to the emotions they convey.
At the crossroads of documentary, artistic creation, and applied arts, the works presented here deliberately blur traditional boundaries. This hybrid nature — a hallmark of the contemporary scene — reveals a fertile and constantly evolving terrain of exploration. A special section of the exhibition is also dedicated to fashion photography, a field of experimentation where photography, design, theatre, and performance intersect. It powerfully illustrates the increasing fluidity between artistic disciplines and practices, in a vibrant and open dialogue.
The project is accompanied by a programme of workshops and roundtable discussions, designed to enrich this exploration of contemporary photography and its many languages.
Pigmentarium, a Czech perfume house, is a partner of the exhibition, bringing an additional dimension to the project: an olfactory emotion. Since its founding, Pigmentarium has collaborated with artists to offer visual interpretations of its fragrances through photography series or sculpture. For Joy and Refuge, young sculptor Martin Žák has created a scented wax sculpture. His work will slowly burn over time, evolving as it does, and subtly infusing the photographic exhibition with a delicate scent.
With the participation of curator Štěpánka Stein and the following artists: Tomáš Jiráček, Michaela Karásek Čejková, Vladimír Kiva Novotný, Hana Knížová, Tereza Kopelentová, Viktorie Macánová, Vendy Mlejnská, Marie Tomanová et Vojtěch Veškrna.
Centre tchèque de Paris
The history of its Paris headquarters carries strong symbolic significance: it was here, in 1916, that the Czech National Council was founded — the foundation of the future Czechoslovak government. Since its opening in 1997 in one of the liveliest districts of the capital, the Czech Centre Paris has become a key space for encounters and exchange between France and the Czech Republic. It hosts a wide range of artistic expressions, including visual arts, design, music, literature, cinema, theatre, as well as Czech language courses.