KarARTéna

The first quarantine exhibition in the history of Trafo Gallery brings a reflection of the current situation in an attempt to bring positive distraction, common upliftment and an effort not to remain paralyzed by inaction. Paradoxically, not much has changed in the lives of artists - their usual solitary life in the studios, when they voluntarily close themselves in their quarantines, is not significantly different from that of the present day. Let's hope that social life will return in the foreseeable future and the art market will soon be revived. The current space-time vacuum reminiscent of apocalyptic films provokes the artistic imagination and is their endless inspiration. Some of the artists in their work foresaw the disintegration of society and the escape from civilization a long time ago, and even more of them are chilling today. 19 artists freely refer to Covid-19.

From the beginning of its establishment in 2006 in the premises of the former Vysočan transformer station, Trafo Gallery got used to the cold - a short-term contract, the impossibility of planning, the impossibility of obtaining funds for its program, raids by drug addicts, etc., DYI activities and joint assistance were the order of the day. An example for all was the exhibition We believe in the crisis, which in 2009 referred to the extension of our rental status due to the overall economic situation and which, paradoxically, gave us time on site to do more. Since September 2019, with the Resurrection exhibition, we have poured new blood into our veins and the premises of Hall 14 in the Prague Market and started a professional gallery life, which the current situation has deadened everyone.

We don't cancel our program, we try to move it (including contracted foreign artists) and on the contrary, we come up with new ideas with which we want to ensure the sanity of us and our friends and fans.