Tabula fracta: The Vulnerability of Architecture in between February and November
curation and exhibition architecture; 2025
Galerie Hraničář, Ústí nad Labem
exhibited artists: Sarah Dubná, Petra Hrúziková, Hana Kokšalová, Jan Kristek, Matouš Lipus, Anna Petruželová, Martina Pouchlá, Jakub Roček, Jonas Staal and collective 4AM/Forum for architecture and media
curators: Karolína Munková, Šárka Svobodová, Eva Truncová
exhibition architecture: Karolína Munková
graphic design: Barbora Růžičková
photo: Tomáš Lumpe
Buildings and architectural complexes from the second half of the last century are now at a crossroads—unless they are reconstructed or adapted to current needs and user requirements, they face imminent demolition, something we have already witnessed in numerous cases. Their often intact original forms, which from an architectural-historical and heritage conservation perspective represent an ideal starting point, also suggest that over more than four decades, they have not received significant investment to evaluate their technical and structural condition.
The title of the exhibition changes the established Latin expression Tabula rasa into a new concept reflecting the starting points of thinking of the curatorial team. This allusion addresses the general issues of the vulnerability of post-war architecture, its absent care and maintenance, and the specific example of “broken travertine facade slabs” falling from the Regional Office of the Ústí Region. Another possible interpretation of this play on words is the current “trend” where architectural heritage is systematically demolished, and instead of possible reconstruction or adaptation, is being built anew on the so-called “green field”. The time frame from February to November symbolically refers to two historical events – the February and Velvet Revolutions – marking the end of the period of state socialism in the then Czechoslovakia.