Biennale Matter of Art: Necessary Wishes › 12/6–26/9/2026

The fourth edition of the international contemporary art exhibition Biennale Matter of Art subtitled Necessary wishes, approaches necessity and indispensability as a central concept that runs through a wide range of cultural practices and artistic works.

The curators ask what those necessary or indispensable things are that we cannot escape. Can they take the form of protest as an expression of life? Might they appear as an intimate gesture, a withdrawal from attention, or a turning inward?

The exhibition brings together, in an intergenerational dialogue, a multitude of visions, speculations, and imaginings that emerge as instinctive responses to the everyday conditions of life and its politics. Artists offer fleeting glimpses into the cosmology of the everyday—into what might appear seemingly insignificant—and, through artistic forms of practice, solidarity, and care, they re-evaluate notions of power and progress.

Exhibiting artists: Ștefan Bertalan, Cezary Bodzianowski, Nosrat Karimi, Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven, Běla Kolářová, Isadora Neves Marques, Margaret Raspé, Alex Sihelsk*, Fedir Tetyanych, Liliana Zeic

Curators:  František Fekete, Jakub Gawkowski, Jaroslava Tomanová

Graphic design: Martin Czeller & Andrea Vacovská

Exhibition architecture: RUINA office (Magdalena Uhlířová & Adéla Vavříková)

About Biennale

The Matter of Art Biennale is an interdisciplinary project of the contemporary art initiative transit.cz, held every two years in Prague and other locations. The Biennial presents artistic approaches that engage with the contemporary world, offering unexpected ways of interpreting and gaining a deeper understanding of it.

Like transit.cz itself, the Biennale is guided by the Code of Feminist Art Institutions. It takes social and structural hierarchies into account while simultaneously questioning them, creating space for the patient and empathetic building of relationships that form the foundation of a resilient and cohesive society.

Admission: free entry / suggested contribution of 60 CZK / 100 CZK (at your discretion). Visitors may choose free entry or a recommended contribution of CZK 60 or CZK 100 according to their preference.

The Biennale Matter of Art 2026 is organized by tranzit.cz in collaboration with National Gallery Prague, the City Gallery Pardubice (GAMPA), and Petrohradská kolektiv. The Biennial is a project of the tranzit.cz initiative, whose main partner is the ERSTE Foundation.

We would like to thank the following for their financial support: Ministerstvo kultury ČR, Statutární město Pardubice

Media cooperation: Artalk.cz, Artikl, Artmap, FlashArt