Eye of the Mountain

• Curated and presented by Hana Janečková

The event ‘Eye of the Mountain’ examines mountains as liminal spaces in which geographical shifts, historical traumas and the climate crisis give rise to different conceptions of time and movement.

The programme was conceived by the artist and filmmaker Melanie Manchot, the film historian, theorist and curator Matěj Strnad (National Film Archive, Prague) and the art historian and curator Hana Janečková (Academy of Fine Arts, Prague).

Drawing on extensive artistic research, the programme traces the conflict-ridden histories of the Cold War that have become inscribed in mountains and expeditions. It sheds light on lithium mining on the German-Czech border and, furthermore, examines the relationships between the rights of the Earth and questions of memory, community and mourning. In doing so, it develops counter-narratives to an anthropocentric understanding of mountains and focuses on ecological perspectives as alternatives to prevailing narratives of conquest, exploitation and coloniality.