The visual artist and interior designer Alica Záhorská was invited by Mária Meszárošová – Director of the Municipal Cultural Centre in Levice and also Director of the Jewish School – Tolerance Centre to conceive an exhibition about Franz Kafka, an author she adores. Alica told us that she decided to accept the invitation only after she found the ideal place for such an undertaking: The Jewish School in Levice. The building has the same contorted shape inside as the destiny of the Jewish people and, moreover, as Franz Kafka’s destiny in this world. There are two articles that gave thoughtful consideration to the visual art exhibition written by the poets Peter Sragher – Romania (see here: https://www.fitralit.ro/31-01-2025-peter-sragher-k-from-kafka/) and Andy Willoughby – Great Britain (see here: https://www.fitralit.ro/31-01-2025-andy-willoughby-the-kafka-exhibition/) to whom we thank for their contribution. (Fitralit)
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It’s always an interesting experience to repeatedly read the works of favorite authors from various periods of time throughout your own life and notice how they can affect you in new and different ways, what new things can be discovered in them years later. How you see yourself reflected in those works. How they make you see where you have moved spiritually and intellectually.
Franz Kafka, one of the most influential writers of the 20th century, became famous for his works that explore existential questions, bureaucratic myths, and the desperate struggles of the individual in an incomprehensible and alienating world. Even though his work was barely recognized and appreciated during his lifetime, he is now one of the gems of literature, his works being considered key in the landscape of modernism and existentialism.
As a teenage girl, I interpreted his works as a rebellion against a too carefully ordered system, which must have its rules strictly given at all costs. I was a high school student, and, although being an introvert – I didn’t feel so dramatically alone – I could recognize myself in his descriptions of insecurity in the company of other students who seemed more confident than me. I even found some of his thoughts funny, as a young person usually does. I didn’t pay much attention at that time to his feelings of helplessness and absurdity of the world, starting only later to discover them in my own skin and years later in his works.
Kafka’s writings are full of subtle parables that brightly enrich the true depth of his moral legacy. The interesting side of these parables is really their wit in the end, because unlike classic allegories, these contain no punchline or great substantial wisdom at the end, which gives his work a charismatic vibe.
On June 3rd, 2024, we commemorated the 100th anniversary of Franz Kafka’s death. It is interesting to observe how his works have continuously influenced literature and philosophy. Also, it is fascinating to see how his messages continue to resonate not only in academic circles but also in popular culture.
Kafkas’s writings enrich the true depth of his moral legacy
For those who haven’t had the time or desire to read his books, I’ve devised a way to engage and help them take a glimpse in Kafka’s world in a slightly different, but more interesting way. I have created an interactive tour of his world called Labyrinth, in the form of site-specific installations.
This exhibition took place from the 29th November to the 19th of December 2024 at the Jewish School in Levice, a small Slovak town.
The main subject matter of the exhibition is the door, serving as a symbol that connects the fates of Kafka’s characters and works with the absurd logic of power structures, which are one of the themes of his works. This theme also seeks to highlight the opacity in a man’s life who is struggling to find his own place in a hostile society and its incomprehensible systems of order.
In the following paragraphs, I feel the need to discuss some of the most important exhibits starting with the title installation. I am going to add also some photographs from the exhibition, so that you will have the feeling, but also to better understand my undertaking. Each title of the exhibit is followed by an appropriate quotation from Kafka’s writings.
Labyrinth
This entrance was meant only for you, now I’ll close it. Kafka
Kafkaesque situations are characterized by lack of clarity and absurdity, where attempts to understand or improve the situation finish in a dead end. I have chosen the underground spaces of the aforementioned building where the term kafkaesque reality stands out the most – a state in which individuals find themselves in a meaningless world from which there is no rational way to escape.
An uncertain dimension of space, a maze of confusing proportions, where you are not sure what will happen to you. As in some situations in life in which you sometimes seem to find yourself in hybrid worlds full of paradoxes and irrationality.
The purpose of this exhibition has been first of all to pay tribute to the mind which influenced lots of generations and secondly try to educate in a different way.
The main reason for me in conceiving this exhibition was to honour the brilliant mind of Kafka, to get under his skin by more than just reading his works, to better understand how he was thinking and then to convey this experience to others and especially to think profoundly about the topics he dealt with.
It was important for me to interest young people in Kafka’s world of thoughts and life adventure in these times that have brought about new technologies and a new lifestyle, when few of them read books. If we think that nowadays, the average person basically reads all day long messages, online statuses, articles, emails, instructions, etc., we observe that it’s not like classic reading that gives one the pleasure of an artistic experience, but rather it triggers off short-lived emotions. The type of reading which represents the absorption of authentic artistic expression is slowly disappearing from the habits of people today. The new generation is now used to new forms of education, where classical reading is no longer the main means of acquiring knowledge or experiencing art. This exhibition was prepared with this reality in mind. People today respond to different kinds of stimuli, it is getting harder to keep hold of their attention and deliver a message that leaves your mark on them. Inspired by new forms of presentation that I experienced at museums and galleries abroad and in Slovakia, I created this Kafka experience.
Letter K, birdcage and the waiting room
Either the world is small or we should be huge. Kafka
The giant letter K – that I hand-painted in a long process in black ink on wrapping paper, hanging above visitors’ heads – pays tribute to the genius of Kafka. Its size, about the same as the height of an average person, suggests that this is an author of large format, who through his characters has made not only the name Kafka famous, but also the letter K itself. The material is plain brown paper, symbolizing his modesty, and the ink painting – intimacy, an attempt to better understand.
I am a cage looking for a bird. Kafka
An interactive installation, a bottomless birdcage hanging from the ceiling, is ready for you to enter with your head and either take a cheerful photo of yourself „behind bars” or just feel it for yourself through your senses and ponder this message.
I imagine that Kafka may have experienced this feeling as a German Jew living in Prague’s German-speaking community, where – as he wrote about himself – he felt like a stranger in his own city, a minority within a minority.
You should have been here at one o’clock. Kafka
Before entering the underground labyrinth space, an absurd waiting room has been prepared for you to “not sit” – an installation made of chair fragments that are impossible to sit on. It is meant to evoke the illogical feeling in a situation where you are compelled to wait in a place dominated by the absence of comfort… and sanity.
Black Gallery and destruction
The more I look, the less I recognize. Kafka
Just as Kafka didn’t want the world to read his work after his death, this gallery has no ambition to be seen. It is an exhibition of darkness, of the feeling that seeps from his work into our souls and thoughts. This room was presented in the dark, lit only by a small lantern, for the visitor to feel to the utmost the essence of true darkness and fear. In Kafka’s works, such a sense of fear is often present in addition to uncertainty, which is why this space could also be called „A Portrait of Fear”. The portrait of that strange feeling of something dark that we can’t see, but we suspect that it all comes from our unexplored inside.
Doing the negative is our destiny, the positive is already given to us. Kafka
In the Black gallery room, there is one more inconspicuous work, a bunch of letters in envelopes stacked on the grill, obviously ready to be burned. With the sentence „Would you burn a work of genius if he asked you to?” I hand the visitors the matches. To those more confused, I later explain the circumstances of Kafka’s last days. At that time, he asked his closest friends, Dorota Diamant and Max Brod, to destroy all his texts. The reluctance to leave one’s own work to live on beyond you is intimately related to the darkness that acts on everyone in this room as a tool to convey such an extreme state of mind.
KafkaTok
Writing is complete solitude, a descent into the cold abyss of self. Kafka
The title of this installation refers not only to the controversial social network TikTok, but more importantly to the inability to communicate at a time where connections between people are inexplicably complicated despite the advanced technology.
Two typewriters placed opposite each other, two machines that none of us use anymore, two different sizes of paper A3 and A4, are connected by a roll of paper, but the different formats of the machines do not allow to connect with each other, it is impossible to make contact.
People today are online almost non-stop; they have access to incredible possibilities of communication and yet they feel lonely and lost in this world more than ever.
The guided tours for high school students have been the most important
The exhibition in the premises of the Jewish School was a unique opportunity to process the life and work of Franz Kafka in an unconventional artistic way and to spread his legacy.
I consider the guided tours for high school students to have been the most important factor. Some of them showed great interest, others got swept away, some were scared, but the most important thing was that it made a certain impact on all of them.
In a room labeled „Court Chambers,” hundreds of files are installed in a chaotic rhythm, absurdity flourishes and clerical acts become a surface for new actions, students start to ask questions or suddenly use the files as a basis for a drawing, some of them even decide there is time to dance. Young visitors from different schools quickly understand that this is an interactive installation, and you are welcome to do anything you want without being invited to do so.
Even though the exhibition is underground and is dimly lit, it begins to be illuminated by the glow of optimism and hope. If there are just a few of these high school students who will reach for a Kafka book, thanks to this experience, then the undertaking was really worthwhile.
*Alica Záhorská is a visual artist, she specializes in interior design, graphic design, illustrations and free creative works with overlaps into conceptual art. She studied at the Andrej Vrábel Grammar School in Levice, and completed her Master’s degree at the Department of Mass Media Communication and Advertising at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra. She has had several artistic collaborations and projects, worked in various creative studios and advertising agencies, even in floristry. Her greatest joy was working for organizations focused on the social themes Zdravé regióny, education NÚCEM, children’s healthcare Svetielko nádeje and mainly culture Teáter Komika, Aerté, ArtHouseCafe, Na kus reči, Bez javiska, Fujart, Nuts, Jewish School – Center of Tolerance. She cares about development of the region she lives in and she involved in the activities of local organizations like Víno spod vulkánu, Terroir Tekov, OOCR Tekov, Erupted. She is a member of the civic associations LOS and …na ceste. She found her freedom and creative outlet in the interior design studio Kuny design in Levice. Works: https://www.acaza.sk/ https://www.facebook.com/alicazahorskagrafickydizajn www.linkedin.com/in/alica-záhorská-87b45835
**Jewish School in Levice – Centre of Tolerance, Slovakia. A national cultural monument and an example of functionalist architecture, the Jewish School – Center for Tolerance in Levice was restored with the help of a grant from the European Economic Area (EEA) and a grant from the Culture programme administered by the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic. The building of the Jewish School was built right next to the synagogue according to the project of the Viennese architect Jacques Oblatt. It was built in 1934-1935 and completed in 1936. The sad fact remains that the Jews enjoyed their school for only a few years. In 1942 it served as a military hospital and in 1944 as a Jewish ghetto. On the morning of June 13, 1944, Jews from the city ghetto were deported at night by train – transport number 103, straight to Auschwitz. After the end of World War II, the former Jewish school was home to an apprentice school, not earlier than school year 1948/1949. In 2015 the building was declared a national cultural monument. The building is now once again used for education, but also for cultural and social events. In addition to the permanent exhibition about the life of Jews in the city of Levice and its surroundings, there is a visualization of the virtual reality of the ghetto in Levice, the names of deported Jews, their removal on 13.6. 1944 from the city to the Auschwitz concentration camp. This realistic and powerful form of presentation aims to make us aware of where prejudice and racist thinking can take us. Discussions, lectures, exhibitions, cultural events such as small stage plays, concerts, workshops, craftsmen presentations are organized in the Tolerance Center now. It is a meeting place for pupils, students and their teachers, adults and seniors, and people with disabilities are also very welcome here. (more about the venue can be seen and read at the following links:https://zidovskaskolalevice.sk/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089248823414)
