Taking it’s title from Red Naomi, one of the most popular roses exported from Kenya to Europe, and celebrated for its “high petal count, improved longevity and resistance to transport”, Radek Brousil’s project deals with the symbolism and impact of our fondness for flowers. It circulates freely around Glasgow botanical gardens glass house and its marble sculpture of a ‘Nubian Slave’, touching on the Czech textile company VEBA and its textile designs for the African market, Naomi Campbell and the story of a pouch with “dirty looking” stones, and water as a connecting element and asset for both transport and production, the exhibition is interested in shifts, twists, appropriations, misinterpretation and the absence of the “natural” in current frames of cultural and economical exchange. Its aim is not just academic or critical: with humour and irony it allows certain elements to appear in new contexts, parallels and configurations, understanding cultural symbols as loose containers for adjustation and productive hybridity.
“My current project with 16 Nicholson Street involves my exploration of the botanical gardens of Scotland, mainly those in Glasgow and Edinburgh. This involves researching floral industry in Africa and its exports to Europe for commercial reasons.” Radek Brousil
Preview: Friday 8 September 2017, 6-9 pm
More info here
Organised by Czech Centre London as part of Czech Season in Scotland 2017:
http://bit.ly/CzechSeasonScotland
#CzechSeasonScotland
In collaboration with 16 Nicholson Street
With a contribution from Francis McKee, Director of Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow.
