HYB4 Galerie: Creation – Myth – Art

Joint project of the Czech Institute of Egyptology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University and HYB4 Galerie Kampus Hybernská connects ancient Egyptian texts and contemporary visual arts. The project, led by Associate Professor Jiří Janák, builds on the research of ancient Egyptian religion and is based on new translations and interpretations of the original sources.

Czech artists are inspired by a specially prepared translation of sources from the period from the 3rd millennium BC to the 1st century AD and create works in various styles and techniques. The project also includes a visual presentation of the archaeological results of the Czech Institute of Egyptology of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University from Abusir, including photographs, films and 3D visualizations. The exhibition will be complemented by an educational and popularization program, including lectures and events for the public.

‍Among the artists involved in the project are, for example, Martin Zet, Daniel Balabán, Jan Bažant, Radka Bodzewicz, Petr Nikl, Dita Jiříčková, Lída Kejmarová, Martin Šejn, Svatopluk Klimeš, Martin Mainer, Veronika Holcová and others.

For the project Creation — Myth — Art the curators of the exhibition selected a version of the myth originating from one of the most important religious centers of ancient Egypt, from the city of Iunu (Heliopolis), which once stood in the northeastern suburbs of present-day Cairo.

This is not an exact scholarly translation of a specific ancient text, but an adapted and retold version of the myth composed of original sources of different genres, modes of use, and dating. The text has been prepared to reflect as closely as possible both the original mythological ideas and the usual structure of ancient Egyptian and ancient myths in general, and above all to enable the reader to understand the whole myth as well as its individual passages)without the need for further interpretation or footnotes.

Therefore, originally one-word expressions or hieroglyphic characters are broken down into longer phrases and some religious ideas are explained directly within the narrative. The myth also contains verbatim quotations from the so-called Pyramid Texts dating from the mid-3rd millennium B.C. In other passages, the text adopts religious ideas, names, titles, or epithets of the gods attested only in hymns from the late 2nd millennium B.C., and some other motifs of the story originally appear in ritual texts that survive only on papyri from the 1st-2nd centuries A.D.

The myth of the creation of the world, which was available to the artists involved in the Creation - Myth - Art project, is itself an artificial creation. It is not attested in this form from Egyptian sources, yet it tells a story using indigenous motifs, linguistic turns of phrase and mental imagery.

The opening will take place on 28 February from 18:00 in A.1 HYB4 Galerie Kampus Hybernská.

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Financial partners: City Hall of Prague, Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Charles University

The event takes place under the auspices of Czech centers and Embassy of the Czech Republic in Egypt.

Media Partner: ArtMap, Kudyznudy.cz