“Mezikrok” is a Prague-based branch of the international artistic residency project Remix Comix. Its aim is to familiarize the public with the challenges faced by young adults leaving children’s homes and offer a simple series of steps that can provide direct assistance.
For these children, adults have often been a source of disappointment or a symbol of institutional care, which, in the form that operates in the Czech Republic, does not allow its wards to experience a semblance of a normal family life. The most common system involves upbringing in extensive complexes located outside larger cities, where everyday life resembles a school in nature. Among dozens of similar children, they have no chance to learn how to build functional personal relationships, and they start their lives with a deep emotional deficit (or with traumatic disorder) that they try to alleviate in adulthood through alcohol and drugs. The sad reality, combined with the negative influence or abuse by their original family, results in the “failure” of more than half of these children to live a normal life. However, in this case, “failure” signifies life on the streets, in prison, or premature death.
More info about the nature of Czech institutional care at children’s homes.
To share the experiences of the aforementioned marginalized group with the residents, members of the project’s team directly conveyed their insights. Michal Ďorď from the organization Vteřina po té and Karolína Stránská from the Patron project provided their expertise. Collaboration with Lukáš Talpa, whose lecture provided residents with more information about specific assistance that can be offered to children, also stemmed from these organizations. Through the presentation of the comic book series “Nejisté domovy” by the Ašta Šmé organization, the team learned about the methodology of processing the topic and approaches to handling the narratives of life stories from marginalized groups. Lastly, through the screening of the documentary “Sbohem, děcáku!” (Goodbye, Children’s Home!), the residents witnessed how the situation evolves for young adults over the years after leaving the state system.
The large-scale painting, which draws attention to the issue, was created as a joint project by an international group of artists from partner European countries. Under the guidance of Czech curator Štěpánka Jislová, the team consisting of Jakub Bachorík (Czech Republic), Asja Komadina (Serbia), Jana Adamović (Serbia), Neža Jurman (Slovenia), and Indi Hoorweg (Netherlands) participated in a series of lectures during the residency, which served as inspiration for the final project.
Insights from the aforementioned marginalized group were directly conveyed to them by members of the organization. Michal Ďorď from the Vteřina po té organization and Karolína Stránská from the Patron project shared their experiences. The collaboration with Lukáš Talpa, whose lecture provided residents with more information about specific assistance that can be offered to children, also originated from these organizations. Through the presentation of the comic book series “Nejisté domovy” by the Ašta Šmé organization, the team familiarized themselves with the methodology of processing the topic and approaches to sensitively approaching the life narratives of the marginalized group. Lastly, through the screening of the documentary “Sbohem, děcáku!” (Goodbye, Children’s Home!), the residents saw how the situation evolves for young adults in the years after leaving the state system. Learn more about collaborating organizations.
