April 9 2026 — The Silence of the Mole project will be presented in the year marking the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Czechoslovak Pavilion and this jubilee inspired the idea for a joint presentation. After twenty years both countries have agreed to implement a joint exhibition presentation at the Art Biennale in Venice.
An international jury consisting largely of independent experts selected the winning proposal in an open competition in June 2025. The authors of the art project are Czech artist Jakub Jansa and Slovak art duo Selmeci Kocka Jusko (Alex Selmeci and Tomáš Kocka Jusko) while the curator is Peter Sit. The presentation is organized by the National Gallery Prague (NGP) in cooperation with the Slovak National Gallery. The commissioner is Michal Novotný director of the Collection of Art after 1945 at NGP.
Artistic Concept
At the center of the project stands Mr M a performer who has portrayed the fictional character of a mole throughout his life which was a figure originally intended for a child audience. The Silence of the Mole is a project that examines what happens to imagination the moment it transforms into a tool of cultural representation. The character of Mr M is the personification of care creative work and nonverbal empathy which express his relationship with the world. The film together with the installation analyzes the process in which the poetic language of imagination transforms into a tool of soft power say the project creators.
The motif of the mole burrow and the character portraying the mole is also a metaphor for how both small states perceive themselves. Mr M functions as a metaphor for imagination whose meaning is constantly negotiated and questioned. In the context of the current social environment the project does not consider silence an abstract state but examines the mechanisms through which voice and imagination are shaped and restricted.
The installation connecting film sculptural objects and architecture follows the process in which the main character loses control over himself. After years of nonverbal empathy his body and voice no longer belong to him. The project works with silence as a motif of the moment when imagination becomes an exhausted public mask and asks whether empathy alone can be the only tool for changing others. The exhibition is created as a unified environment the result of a long term dialogue among all members of the creative team. The film by Jakub Jansa is created in direct connection to the spatial sculptural installation by the duo Selmeci Kocka Jusko and the individual components cannot be separated.
The authors add that the theme chose them. They reflect their feelings context conditions and the time in which they are preparing the project. They work with how objects communicate with the viewer and how people move within the installation. They are interested in how much time visitors will spend in the space and what they will think about even though this process is always to some extent unpredictable.
Curator Peter Sit perceives the project as a whole transcending the Central European context. The theme is very timely and understandable. It reflects situations we experience today across the world and viewers can relate to them from various perspectives.
The Czech and Slovak Pavilion 100 years of existence
The Czech and Slovak Pavilion in the Venice Giardini park was opened in 1926 adjacent to the pavilions of France Germany and Great Britain. The construction of the state pavilion in Venice was a significant representative feat of the first Czechoslovak Republic. The pavilion symbolized the consolidation of the cultural and political significance of the newly formed state.
The author of the building is architect Otakar Novotný one of the key representatives of modern architecture. He adapted the pavilion to the Venetian environment with a classicist approach featuring a symmetrical composition portal and side pillars while crowning it with a steel skylight allowing top light.
Despite the dissolution of Czechoslovakia the pavilion is still under the joint ownership of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic and since 2024 its partner has been J&T Banka which besides supporting art is also close to the Czech and Slovak cultural legacy.
The upcoming anniversary exhibition will be complemented by a series of other outputs prepared by the National Gallery Prague. A unique documentary is being produced in coproduction with Czech Television dedicated not only to the pavilion and the history of representation at the biennale but also a time lapse look at the preparation and implementation of exhibitions. The documentary will be broadcast in the autumn of this year.
During the same period the first comprehensive publication dedicated to the Czech and Slovak Pavilion in Venice will be released edited by Helena Huber Doudová. The publication will offer perspectives from various authors on the history of the biennale the participation of Czechia and Slovakia as well as their cooperation and contemporary perception of the biennale.
Reconstruction of the pavilion
Last winter the first stage of the planned reconstruction of the pavilion began in the sections where there was agreement from all parties. During the works several modifications took place such as the repair of the roof strengthening and remediation of foundations or pouring a new concrete floor. The construction is already finished and the installation of the new exhibition project representing Czechia and Slovakia at this year’s Venice Art Biennale which begins on May 9 and ends on November 22 2026 will start in the coming days.
After the end of the exhibition the second stage of reconstruction will begin in December 2026 with planned completion in March 2027 during which the remaining parts will be repaired.
The preliminary costs for the reconstruction including project documentation are estimated at 68 million Czech korunas. Financing is provided by the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic in a ratio of 2 to 1. After the completion of the reconstruction national participation will continue according to the agreed rotation model.
Basic Information
The Silence of the Mole (Krtkovo ticho)
Authors
Jakub Jansa (1989) is a Czech artist working with film, installation, and performance. In his work, he combines fiction, humor, and the grotesque with a critical reflection on social structures, power relations, and ideologies. In 2021, he received the Jindřich Chalupecký Award.
Selmeci Kocka Jusko is an artistic duo consisting of Alex Selmeci and Tomáš Kocka Jusko. They focus on the relationship between space, perception, and imagination, creating intermedia installations and objects.
Peter Sit (1991) is an artist and curator who currently serves as the art director of e-flux journal. In his practice, he focuses on contemporary art, language, education, and mental health.
Michal Novotný has been the director of the Collection of Art after 1945 at the National Gallery Prague since 2019 and the commissioner of the Czech Pavilion at the Venice Biennale since 2024.
Czech and Slovak Pavilion, Giardini, Venice
May 9, 2026 – November 22, 2026
Curator: Peter Sit
Commissioner: Michal Novotný (NGP)
