UFO Visitor #2: Šimon Kadlčák (Brno House of Arts, Brno)
My engagement in visual arts is so multidisciplinary, that I usually don’t like to (and I probably I can’t) label my activities with a single name. I am an artist and a curator, earlier in 2021 I started working as a coordinator of the Brno Artists in Residence programme under the House of Arts in Brno, Czech Republic (which is a partner institution of Cas-Co from UFO network). I’m also a co-founder, coordinator and curator of Zaazrak|Dornych, an experimental artist-run space in Brno, a member of a dj crew speedcoretrew, I write articles and critical reviews for different art-related media or do other freelance jobs for institutions. So altogether it’s really a lot and it’s split between both the institutional (which is earning me money) and the independent sphere (which I put the money into, but I sincerely love it). It. can be tiring and I feel like a living meme sometimes, but it’s the best I’ve been able to establish for myself so far.
What are you currently working on?
Right now I’m happy that I managed to successfully finish my whole 2021 schedule despite the covid-related complications. All the shows I was about to curate/organize this year had happen, even though some of them were postponed multiple times and the time for their realization was short, which is a little miracle.
My major plan for 2022 is to slow down a bit. Furthermore we are reorganizing the BAiR residency programme to make the residencies longer, more advantageous for the artists and closely connected to the curatorial focus of G99 Gallery that is a part of the residence. Besides the seven shows I will curate at my home Zaazrak|Dornych, I got invited to take care of Trinidad off space in Oaxaca, Mexico for two months, so that’s the biggest goal for me on personal level and the thing I am looking for the most.
How would you define your practice?
As scattered and multidisciplinary in terms of my role, but focused in certain aesthetics and theme at the same time.
How do you see your relationship with artists?
As a coordinator of the residency programme and a freelance curator I see my role mostly as a helpmate and a consultant of the artists. I usually want to hear about the artists’ plans and vision first and try to understand it and then I’m trying to fulfill it and make the reality as close to the plan as possible. At the same time I’m trying to utilize the overview I have as an external “non-author” of the work to come up with some handy suggestions to make the piece even better. I’m trying to learn not to project myself too much in the projects of other individuals.
What do you expect from the UFO visitors programme?
Most of all I’m looking forward to visit the new partner organization of our residency in Brno and hope to bring back some cool & useful tips which may help us to improve our own approach. I’m also curious to meet the local artists, which can possibly lead to some future cooperations related or unrelated to my job.
BIO
Šimon Kadlčák works interdisciplinary in the field of contemporary visual art. Along with his own artistic practice he co-founded and co-curates an independent experimental off-space
Zaazrak|Dornych in Brno, Czech Republic, writes critical reviews for different online and printed media (Artalk, A2, Fotograf, etc.) and coordinates the Brno Artists in Residence programme under The Brno House of Arts. He is one of the authors of the book Atlas of Spontaneous Art (together with Pavel Konečný) that is mapping the work of untaught artists in the public space of Czech Republic. Between 2013 and 2018 he used to be one of the curators of Umakart Gallery in Brno. In his recent artistic practice he explored the theme of dissolving identity of an individual in the collective or in the altered states of consciousness, which led him to take interest in autonomy, freetekkno, football or the Hussite movement. In past years he exhibited solo at Berlinskej Model, 35 m² Gallery, Jelení Gallery or National Gallery in Prague and at group shows at PLATO Ostrava, Kunsthalle Bratislava (SK) or Galerie Emila Filly Ústí nad Labem. He is a member of the musical and organizational platform speedcoretrew. He lives in Brno, Czech Republic, where he also graduated from the Intermedia Department at the Faculty of Fines Art.