WELCOME TO HARD TIMES
18 Oct 2018 – 4 Feb 2019
We’re open to all, now also you
DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
Poupětova 1, Prague 7
Show on map
You don’t have to know much to know that the world has seen better days, so what are we doing about it? What are you doing about it? Apathy is one of the many issues we’re not talking about.
But why don’t people care about what’s going on in the world?
a. It doesn’t affect them directly
b. They can’t do anything about it.
c. They’ve seen it all before.
Instead, we go to the gym...
As a society we’ve never been sicker or more obsessed with exercise than we are today. New fitness concepts are being launched every day, but they’re all much of a muchness, really. Instead of the 7-minute workout there’s the 6-minute workout, instead of having to choose between yoga or acrobatics, they’ve been combined. But now there is a workout that challenges your body, your mind and your morals, and it might even be good for the world.
A workout that forces you to take on the big issues threatening our world every day - you can’t ignore them in this gym! Sweat out your guilt and your obliviousness, train your awareness, face the beasts head on. Who knows, maybe you’ll get a six-pack, or maybe you’ll come up with a solution to ocean pollution, or poverty.
In this interactive installation the space will be transformed into a gym, where you work out your muscles as you grapple with the issues facing the world. After your workout you’llfeel invigorated, informed and maybe even willing to be a little bit more aware of what’s really going on in the world.
Exhibition Concept: Erik Kessels
Artists:
Elinor Milchan - My Love Answer Me project
Antuan Rodriguez - Left or Right project curated by Marisa Caichiolo
Viktor Frešo
The visit of artist Elinor Milchan in Prague has been supported by the Embassy of the State of Israel in Prague.
Keep exploring
Jakub Berdych Karpelis: Bazaar Bizaar
The exhibition Bazaar Bizaar by Jakub Berdych Karpelis creates a situation that is also a deliberately fragmentary whole—an object composed of the memory of other objects. In the installation for DOX by Qubus does not only serves as a source of light, but as a situation in space.
Radka Bodzewicz: FAUST
Radka Bodzewicz has long drawn inspiration from literary sources – from poetry, prose, and even scholarly or philosophical texts. The FAUST exhibition offers an artistic reflection on another iconic literary work, Goethe’s Faust.
ANDROS
The ANDROS group exhibition explores artistic depictions of the male body within the broader regional context, presenting works by artists from Germany, Austria, and the Visegrad countries alongside those of Czech artists.
Disappearing Man
The premiere of a a reflection, through music and dance, on the constant need for stimulation and escape and the simultaneous search for the present moment. An intimate double bill of dancer Andrej Štěpita and musician Štěpán Janoušek presents an original solo project by two distinctive members of Farm in the Cave theatre ensemble.
Point of View 4: Resilience
The fourth instalment of the long-term project Point of View once again presents an exhibition and a classroom in one. The artistic approaches here open up a space to slow down and pay attention – a space for shared experience. They allow us to linger with uncertainty, to think and feel at the same time, and to seek strength in fragility.
BOOKS 6+7 Edition
The Archive of Fine Arts has long been dedicated to Czech and Slovak typography. The BOOKS series, which focuses on exceptional typographic works from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, was launched in 2014. The exhibition "BOOKS Series 6+7" showcases the two most recently published volumes.
Jiří Petrbok: Patient Diary
Jiří Petrbok’s exhibition Patient Diary focuses on the theme of self-portraiture, presenting the artist’s work from the 1990s up to the present as an unbroken record of a changing, constantly questioned “self”.
Veronika Zýková: Foolidiot
Veronika Zýková created several works for the Polička/Shelf gallery space at the Archive of Fine Arts at DOX, transferring her usually large-format abstractions onto the surface of children's picture books.
HIT BY NEWS
HIT BY NEWS takes a lucid and critical look at the fascinating topic of a society that was, is, and will continue to be shaped by the media. It presents a selection from the collection of Annette and Peter Nobel.
Jazz at the Spring Fest
Living jazz legend and seventeen-time Grammy nominee Fred Hersch makes his Prague Spring debut with his trio, named Jazz Group of the Year 2019 by DownBeat magazine.
Unsuk Chin in Conversation
Public interview with Unsuk Chin, Prague Offspring Composer-in-Residence, holder of the Grawemeyer Award and the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung Preis.
Alžběta Tichá: Frekvence
Frequency explores the complex relationship between body, mind, and technology. What happens when we feel nothing at all? And what happens when we go through extreme physical and emotional roller coasters? Alžběta Tichá creates an intimate and dynamic picture of human perception and emotions.
GA-I-SU-RA
A homage to Petr Geisler and his work, GA-I-SU-RA also pays tribute to calligraphy as a form of inner expression, reminding us that writing and beautiful script have always been a natural reflection of (not only) a pure soul. From his expressive calligraphy through multiple-exposure photography from 1980s Japan to his monumental inscription of the Buddhist Heart Sutra.
Gioele Coccia: Never So Close, Never So Far
The premiere of a cross-section of the work of Italian choreographer, dancer, and dance filmmaker Gioele Coccia. One body. Many faces. Alone in plain sight. We are more visible than ever, yet behind our masks we hunger for connection.
Refuge 2025
They're on their way. Out of fear. No guarantees. Three people cross paths on the run. Bound to each other, they traverse territories of anxiety, courage, failure and compassion. They seek refuge in a world that doesn't care for them.
Ensemble Modern II
The acoustic world of South Korean markets or Japan’s Noh and Bunraku theatre. During the second evening of Prague Offspring, Ensemble Modern will present, in addition to four World premieres, music inspired by the Far East.
Masterclass – Ensemble Modern
Explore new performance techniques with members of Ensemble Modern as part of Prague Offspring. Part of the Prague Spring festival 2026.
Reading Lessons – Ensemble Modern
The Ensemble Modern players, who master their instruments in thousands of ways, guide young composers and the audience of Prague Offspring through a realm of new possibilities in sound. The concert takes place as part of the Prague Spring Festival 2026.
Ensemble Modern I
The first evening at the Prague Offspring with Ensemble Modern, during which you will step through the looking–glass, discover the endless possibilities of percussion instruments, and experience a world premiere. The concert is part of Prague Spring festival 2026.
Thin Skin
A performance by established circus acrobat Eliška Brtnická and her hypnotic production Thin Skin at the interface of movement installation and contemporary circus in the spaces of the DOX Centre.
