START POINT PRIZE – Prize for emerging artists

Tomáš Šoltýs’s performance, realized at the end of April 2011 on the Morava and Danube rivers, refers to a specific interest of the artist in a performative mode of expression and at the same time deals with the issue of memory of the landscape which he examines together with the possibilities of reinterpretation of the place. The transformation need not only be related to a change of the visual character of the place, it can happen simply by being in the space. Šoltýs breaks the representational stereotypes and by moving slowly along the river he attempts to bring attention to processes which are not primarily visible – to the long-term transformation of the landscape and the related environment. The river symbolizes the passage of time but also the genius loci of Central European space. (lg)