Deconstructing Myths: Art Residencies in the V4 Region

The project addresses the rise of nationalism, particularly in the V4 region, through the exploration of traditional symbols and narratives. Culture and art play a crucial role in shaping – or challenging – homogenizing narratives often promoted by state actors. Both folk and fine art from the past, along with traditional symbols, are increasingly used in ways that strip them of their original complexity, reducing them to instruments of political messaging. We are concerned with how images rich in meaning are often used for political purposes, creating old-new mythologies that, while pragmatically constructed, tap into emotions and collective fears. This trend feeds on social media and popular culture, where images are rapidly circulated, amplifying nationalist messages and shaping collective perceptions. These streams of images and narratives create the illusion of a single unified reality, that can bring comfort but at the cost of silencing other voices.

Our aim is to respond to this trend through contemporary art practices that remain independent of state influence. The project seeks to share ideas, images, and stories related to the V4 region but with potential for wider impact, told from the perspective of today’s independent artists. 

Project partners:

• MeetFactory is an international center for contemporary art based in Prague with a theatre, music hall, two exhibition spaces, and 11 studios for international artists. Its residency program supports visual artists, performers and curators from around the world, providing studio space, accommodation, and opportunities for public presentation. By combining artistic production with exhibitions, performances, and interdisciplinary exchange, MeetFactory creates a dynamic environment that encourages experimentation and dialogue between local and international art scenes.
  Website

• aqb is an independent contemporary art platform based in Budapest that brings together artist studios, exhibition spaces, and residency programs in a former industrial complex. It supports experimental and research-driven practices by providing space, technical resources, and an international network for artists and curators.
  Website

• KAiR is a cultural platform based in Košice, Slovakia, dedicated to supporting contemporary art and international exchange. Its residency program is at the core of its activities, offering artists, curators, and researchers time, space, and professional support to develop new projects in dialogue with the local context. Website

• Goyki 3 Art Inkubator is an independent, interdisciplinary cultural institution of the city of Sopot in Poland. Its residency program focuses on supporting the creative process and fostering dialogue between artists from different disciplines.
  Website

Art Residencies: 

In 2026, we invite eight artists from the V4 countries working in visual art and performance to participate in residency exchanges across the four partner institutions. During their residencies, each artist develops an individual project reflecting on the theme. Being a foreigner in a new, yet still culturally related, environment provides fresh perspectives and allows us to observe both parallels and differences. The public will be invited to visit their studios and get to know their projects during Open Studios events and pop-up exhibitions. The artists will present their work at local universities and the process of their work will be also accessible online on the partners' websites. One artist from each country has already been nominated and invited by the curators of the partner institutions, while the remaining four artists will be selected through an open call.

The four nominated artists:

• Zuzana Markéta Macková is a Czech artist and curator living in Berlin. She works in multiple media and topics such as sci-fi, hybridity, mental uneasiness, hypercapitalism, horror, and conspiracy theories. She is interested in the tension and relation between the constructs of Eastern and Western Europe. Zuzana is a board member of Display - Association for Research and Collective Practice (Prague, Czech Republic) and has curated several exhibitions (All that is solid melts like my blush after a long shift, GAMU Prague, 2025). Zuzana Markéta Macková will participate in a residency at aqb in Budapest. 

• Aleksandra / Ola Nenko is a Polish sculptor and scenographer whose work moves fluidly between intimacy and broader social reflection. Working primarily with mixed media, installation, and subtle material interventions, she examines the emotional and psychological layers embedded in everyday gestures and objects. Her works focus on the complex and relevant themes, such as home, which she understands as a concept filled with tension and contradictions, particularly in the context of contemporary challenges related to migration, belonging, and identity. She is the founder and a member of the Bałuckiego 15 collective in Kraków. Ola Nenko will participate in a residency at KAiR in Košice.

• Lőrinc Borsos is a fictional artistic persona developed since 2008 by János Borsos and Lilla Lőrinc. Both studied at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Arts. Their practice, grounded in the deconstruction of traditional artistic strategies and in collective and para-institutional approaches, connects the legacy of the Hungarian neo-avant-garde with contemporary media and technological transformations. Gradually moving from early painting to installation, speculative world-building, and alternative pedagogy, they have realized a number of significant projects, including the exhibitions Nonentity (2016, ICA-D, Dunaújváros), For the Child of the Future (2023, MűvészMalom, Ferenczy Museum, Szentendre), and Narnia is a Lie (2024, Hessel Museum, USA). They are currently based at Art Quarter Budapest (aqb), where they maintain a studio and actively contribute to the institution’s activities. Lőrinc Borsos will participate in a residency at MeetFactory in Prague.

• Nik Timková is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans installation, sculpture, textile objects, drawing, digital collage, sound, performance, DJ culture, and collective reading practices. Working fluidly across online and offline aesthetics, she explores themes of mythology, symbolism, magic, witchcraft, feminism, folklore, and the politics of imagination. Her work often draws on gothic and neo-gothic traditions, vernacular rituals, and speculative myth-making. Through long-term collective platforms such as Björnsonova and A.M. 180, she emphasizes collaboration and collective authorship, developing alternative symbolic systems such as hybrid oracles and playing cards that function as both archives and tools for world-building. Nik Timková will participate in a residency at Goyki 3 Art Inkubator in Sopot.

Festival and Collective Exhibition at aqb in Budapest in 2027

In the second phase of the project, all eight participating artists (two from each country) will gather in Budapest for a three-day final event which will result in a group exhibition, together with the curators of the partner institutions. This mixed-media festival, open to the public, will include artist talks, performances, and workshops, aiming to spark dialogue around shared and divergent symbols, stories, and their relevance today. For more information, follow our social media accounts.