Marwa Arsanios, Ed Atkins, Adéla Babanová, Zach Blas, Paul Maheke, Leslie Thornton

What is reality? And is there only one reality? Or are we offered the possibility to move between different versions and variations of what we otherwise take for granted and describe as reality? In recent years, both global and local politics have often made mention of divided societies, with the assumption that one side refuses to listen to the other, and vice versa. Is it possible that each of the parties lives in a different reality? What about the growing digital world? Can we consider this as real? Or do we reserve that privilege for describing the physical space around us, which we can look at with our own eyes and touch directly, without the help of displays, controllers or virtual reality gloves?

With the democratization of the possibilities of personal statement through the tools of the Internet and social networking, our previously more or less compact reality has begun to shift and become layered. Everyone has the right and space to express their own opinion within the infinite digital world, and thus the role of co-creators of the world, which previously belonged to religious leaders, politicians and philosophers, is now available to everyone.

The exhibition Shifted Realities poses the questions above and supplements them with countless others, offering visitors of Galerie Rudolfinum a range of possible instructions and hints concerning perception of how subdivided and scattered our own realities can be. In a series of works by internationally renowned artists, the gallery presents selected approaches to thinking about the current world and its direction through images, space and movement.

Whether the interest in the boundaries between the digital and the physical evoked by Ed Atkins, the exploration of new visions of social equality with Marwa Arsanios, the pushing of the boundaries of perception in the work of Zach Blas, the confrontation of inner worlds and the environment explored by Adela Babanová, the expansion of the range of possible personal identities by Paul Maheke, or the search for a common language which is the focus of Leslie Thornton, all of the works included in the exhibition seek to expand conventional perception and to show the richness of a single, albeit stratified, reality.

With the exhibition Shifted Realities, Galerie Rudolfinum once again offers a selection of outstanding contemporary artists, testing the perception of its viewer not only with the content of the works on exhibition, but also through their formal qualities, as always, transforming the 19th century architectural space into a projection surface for various visions: techno-utopian dreams, digital dystopias , new communities, surreal theatrical scenes – or perhaps rather their backstage areas, barricades of protest, and more.

A digital catalogue with a series of texts further illuminating each of the exhibited works is available to help lead you through the exhibition, complemented by a selection of contextual essays. Admission is free, so you can also return at any time to continue where you left off.

Curators: Eva Drexlerová, Jen Kratochvil, Petr Nedoma

Rudolfinum Gallery