The exhibition builds on the long term research of the Central Slovak Gallery, which focuses on artworks in the public space of Banskej Bystrica from the period of socialism (1948 to 1989). This period, shaped by state cultural policy, significantly influenced the form of art that co created the character of the city. It was precisely during this time that most statues, fountains, monuments, and memorials were built. The state supported their creation through substantial financial investments, and these works served not only an aesthetic but also an ideological function. What meanings did they carry at the time of their creation? Who were they meant to address and what message were they supposed to convey? Can they still speak to us today? We attempt to answer these questions through photographs, texts, and artifacts composed within mutual relationships and contexts, creating a sort of manual for reading them today.
Many of these artistic executions are now located in buildings with a different function or in places where they remain without systematic care. After 1989, a significant portion of them was destroyed, and only a torso remains of the originally extensive collection. Photographs by Jano Viazo document their current state. They capture the absurdity of the visual, cultural, and informational layering of meanings that gradually formed around these works. Against the background of creations coming from a marginalized historical period, they reveal their shifting position in contemporary space and simultaneously point to tendencies toward their simplified or distorted interpretation.
The presentation is based on the publication of the same name, I walked through the city and there it stood in the street, which was created in cooperation with the Banská Bystrica publishing house Literárna bašta. The graphic design of both the exhibition and the publication was prepared by Tereza Maco. Individual chapters of the book are projected into the exhibition space and expanded by artifacts from the collection of the Central Slovak Gallery. These are small scale models created as proposals for executions located in the public space of the city.
The exhibition thus connects the book and spatial forms, offering an opportunity to get to know these works directly in the streets of Banská Bystrica. If the topic interests you, you can continue exploring it even outside the gallery, using the publication as a city guide.
Exhibition opening: April 30, 2026, at 5:00 PM (Thursday) Exhibition duration: May 1, 2026 to September 30, 2026 Venue: Bethlen House (PARADAJS PHOTO GALLERY), Dolná 141/8, Banská Bystrica Exhibition concept, research, and texts: Zuzana Majlingová Photographs: Jano Viazo Graphic design: Tereza Maco Exhibition architecture: Ateliér HAUS Language proofreading: Adriána Pešková Promotion and PR: Michael Luzsicza Technical cooperation: Norbert Nečada, František Dvořák Accompanying and educational programs: Martina Martincová, Zuzana Medzihorská Production: Jano Viazo, Ivan Žirka Cooperation: Central Slovak Gallery, Paradajs photo gallery, Literárna bašta Free admission to the opening.
The Central Slovak Gallery is founded by the Banská Bystrica Self-Governing Region.
