hide and sneak peek

Králíkovo Theatre was built in 1928 as a space for both theatre and a café. In the 1950s, however, significant changes took place – the café was walled in, and the spiral staircase at the back of the building was enclosed. From this once prominent architectural element, only a semicircular cylinder of the wall remains visible from the outside today. This process of covering and transformation did not occur only here but can also be traced in other buildings of the exhibition grounds.

The installation responds to this history through the deconstruction and reinterpretation of hidden architectural elements. The central role is played by the staircase itself, which we have transformed into a new form – created from wood and papier-mâché. This shift in material conveys a fragment of the original architecture in a light, symbolic form.

For safety reasons, the work can only be observed from a certain distance, making this limited perspective a defining factor of the entire installation. Our work thus brings closer to the viewer what has remained concealed within the building – it offers a new view of an architectural element that was covered and simultaneously recalls its existence in its original form.

The exhibition is a dialogue between past and present: it shows how memory of a place can be brought back into play through deconstruction and reinterpretation, revealing what would otherwise remain invisible.

3.9 × 6m, wooden stick, papier maché, acrylic paint

September 2025