Year: 2025
Location: Prague
curator: Otto Drexler
collaboration: Arts and Theatre Institute (IDU)
video: Savka Marenić
Weaving a Narrative of Space was a lecture presented at the Arts and Theatre Institute in Prague, in which Savka Marenić discussed her methods for creating performative gestures in public space, writing speculative spatial fiction, and exploring spatial pedagogy. The lecture focused on how she develops and constructs fictional roles as a means of engaging with and narrating space.
The presentation was accompanied by a small workshop titled Zápisník příběhů (The Notebook), inspired by a field video filmed along a restricted and unused path within the institute’s shared courtyard. This path divides the space into two disconnected zones, leaving hidden elements—such as sculptures or a fountain—out of view and inaccessible.
The artist accessed the path unofficially to create a speculative video. Acting as a quiet observer, she explored the environment and uncovered the hidden layers of the obscured spaces that often remain unseen and unnoticed. The focus was on careful observation and attentive listening.
During the workshop, participants and institute employees engaged collectively with the video and the site, working together to decode its layers and co-create narratives and alternative readings of the space.
Through this shared exploration of the courtyard, the video and accompanying field notes invited participants to see their everyday environment from a new perspective—revealing hidden layers, barriers, and possibilities within the space they share.
