Landscapes can be viewed in many ways. Most people today pass through them in cars, trains, or in the better case, bikes. If we wend our way through them on foot, it is usually passed important places, along marked hiking trails, in search of breathtaking panoramas, historic landmarks, the remnants of noble artistry. Our aim during the seven-day encounter in the Czech Republic is to see landscapes in a new light. To view them as witnesses to the stories that have played out in them and continue to play out in them to this day. To attempt to understand the multi-layered testimony of the places we walk through (whether from the historic, social, or mythical perspective) and to strive to record the tales we encounter on the way.

Not only will we be guided on our journey by an art historian and an architectural theorist, but also – and first of all – by the people who themselves dwell in the landscape. We will become witnesses of their stories, which we will then attempt to retell in pictures. Just as we embark on our journey together, we will eat together and sleep under one roof together, and even work in one print shop together. We will become distant witnesses who wish to pass on what we have experienced, or what the storytellers experienced, or what happened in their stories. Everyone who takes part in this journey will create their own layer to the story of the landscape they saw and proceed to record it. The resulting book, map, or travelogue will come about through collective reflection where each pilgrim will contribute with his or her own unique abilities.

Portfolio of Juraj Horváth's artwork, mentor of this workshop.