Personal Information
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Given name: Barbora









Surname: Lungova









Email: lungova@ffa.vutbr.cz









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Your contribution
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Title: Good Fetishism?









Format: Project presentation (2)









Main language: English









Abstract:
 
The initial aims of the research project focused on the possibilities of representing queer desire while eschewing the problem of objectification which is frequently at stake especially when representing women’s bodies. In my research, I was originally grounded in painting, formerly my main discipline. During the process of exploring strategies of other artists, both historical and contemporary, I started questioning the adequacy of painting for the ends I wanted to communicate. Gradually, as I was involved in other artistic projects focusing on botanical and horticultural topics, I realized that a garden could be a perfect tool of not only representing desire, but communality and shared joy – aspects that are crucial to the experience of queer lives in hostile environment. In 2020, I decided to plant The Rainbow Garden in Kameníky by Kyjov dedicated to queerness. The key to the composition of the garden is conceptual, not primarily visual. The garden is composed of iris barbata cultivars arranged into flower beds according to different topics. The names given to cultivars by breeders frequently reflect frozen tropes (Secret Weekend), cultural imagery (Cher and Cher Alike), and even stereotypes (Perfect Wife, Wild Petticoat).The names function as ready-mades from which a cluster of associations or even narratives or poems can be made. Thus the rainbow garden consists of iris beds dedicated to different topics: there are several Gender stereotypes beds, a Queer bed, and several love poems. Situated among vineyards, orchards, and fields, the garden without fences is accessible to passers-by and is the location of annual queer picnics and annual short-term artistic residencies. In the course of seven years, I have found (but not perfected!) a form of representing and enacting queer desire trough indirect metaphors reflected in names given to irises by others, but also through direct orchestration of events and meetings of both queer and straight people.










Link to the Exposition :  (https://www.researchcatalogue.net/view/3530093/3534183)









Image: https://test.sar2026.ie/system/files/webform/submit_contribution/327/Rainbow-garden-24-k-velkoform-tisku.jpg









Short biographies of the presenter(s):
- Barbora Lungová is assistant lecturer at the Faculty of Fine Arts Brno University of Technology, and is currently finishing her artistic doctoral studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (the dissertation is to be defended in May or June). In her practice, she narrates stories about heteropatriarchy through paintings, and stories about public space (and commons), cultural imagery, memory, and non-human eroticism through ornamental flowers and gardens – both guerilla and private.










Previous presentations or iterations of the research:
The project about the Rainbow Garden in Kameníky by Kyjov under the title The Garden Visit at the Jindřich Chalupecký Award laureates‘ exhibition in the National Gallery Prague in the format of a multimedia installation, see  https://www.ngprague.cz/en/event/4505/jindrich-chalupecky-award-2025; the Rainbow Garden was also presented in a different, smaller-scale format in Entrance Gallery in Prague in a group exhibition in 2024, see https://entrancegallery.com/kvetomluva/.














Requirements
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Additional information:
I am also open to the poster format if there are not enough slots for presenters. 










Spatial and technical requirements :
For a presentation (artist's talk), I need projection (video + audio + microphone). 










Potential risks or ethical concerns:
No known. 










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