Installation "Biafra of Spirit", video "Autoignition" (2016)
Installation, video: 3 min 56 sec
The sixties in Czechoslovakia were marked by the increasing number of Third World Students coming to Prague, Bratislava, and other cities to study at the local universities. It was a result of the internationalist spirit of communist ideology and the state-imposed solidarity with the former colonies. However, there was no public debate on the problems foreign students encountered in Czechoslovakia (racism and xenophobia were taboo in any socialist country) as narrated by the archival materials.
Research and curatorial project "Biafra of Spirit" in this iteration presents a map of where the students were coming from and a video called "Autoignition". Grounded on police reporting which is one of the rare places where one can research the history of international students in Prague at the time, the video nods to a conflict between an international communist student and an anti-communist Czech counterpart.
The phrase "Biafra of Spirit" refers to the effect of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and the crackdown of Czechoslovak intellectuals, but is also a name of an African secessionist state in eastern Nigeria. Both are related to people’s struggle for independence.
/ From text by Tereza Stejskalová
/ Photo credit: Kristīne Madjare / Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art