Factory of Arcadian Identity

The exhibition project titled Factory of Arcadian Identity presents the first collaboration between Iva Davidová and Eva Maceková. Both artists work with fictional worlds that appear (seemingly) untouched by humans, serving as romanticized escapes from the chaotic reality of contemporary life. However, the idea of an illusory paradise offering spiritual cleansing through a return to nature is disrupted by the phenomena of catfishing and cottagecore. Sannazaro’s mythical Arcadia, an allegorical land of ideal pastoral bliss unspoiled by civilization, is here transformed into nothing more than a barren simulation. Instead of the desired contemplation, the pristine natural scenes depicted in Macekovás paintings and Davidovás drawings and reliefs evoke an almost unsettling sense of permanence and lifelessness. Nature, in the presence of humans, does not come alive; rather, it sinks deeper into a chasm of stagnation and suffering. Thus, the hope may lie in vaguely defined creatures with non-human elements — abstract bodies representing Nature, which appear unobtrusively in the depicted scenes. Their presence liberates the natural world from its melancholic state of extinction and impermanence, contributing to changes and healing in the landscape, much like modern primeval forests.