Katerina Sysova
KUKBUK
The photographic series Kukbuk serves as a visual guide to Czech dining culture. Expressively constructed scenes, in the form of visual jokes, explore the customs and conventions associated with Czech dining. In meticulously staged photographs, each character and object is assigned a specific role. Kateřina Sýsová conceives her photographs as open works that can be read on multiple levels. Primarily, as a visual joke or puzzle, in which it is not difficult to recognize dishes such as chicken paprikash or pickled sausages. However, the visual humour on the second level raises broader questions about the influence of the past on the present, the relationship between image and word, and the issues of gender associated with visual pleasure. In her view, retro aesthetics are not a true retro but rather a mixture of contemporary and past elements that evoke a collective memory that can shape the thinking of the entire nation.
Text by Kateřina Sýsová
BIO
Kateřina Sýsová is a Czech-German photographer and curator. She studied journalism at FSV UK, photography at ITF, and theory and history of art at UMPRUM. The cornerstone of her work is staged photography. She deliberately works with photographic humour and kitsch. In the past, she contributed to the books ‘Aby po nás něco zůstalo: příběhy novodobých zámeckých pánů’ and ‘Rozhovory na hraně zítřka’. She illustrated the poetry collection ‘Zastaveni’ with her photography. She was awarded the title of Personality of Young Czech Photography under 30 by the Association of Professional Photographers in 2020. In her free work, she draws inspiration from the visual style of the 1980s and retro. Her work was exhibited at the Gask Gallery and the OFF festival in Bratislava, where photographs from the Kukbuk series, a guide to Czech recipes and dining, were on display.