Bratislava : Struggling for Identity

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Arriving into a windy, wet and cold Bratislava, we were fortunate to find our way to the hostel without much challenge apart from the weather. Our hostel, City Hostel, had large rooms and is located in a prime spot 2 minutes away from the Old Town.

The Europe that we have come to know during our trip to Germany last year was snow and naked branches. It was such a lovely sight to see glorious trees with tresses of leaves. To escape from the drizzle, we headed to the Slovakia National Gallery. This summer’s exhibition is Autopoesis and it says on the brochure :

“..based on a theme of the self presentation of the artist’s individuality in two levels: firstly autobiographical where it aspires to present latent facts of the artists’ lives. Secondly, self presentation in forms of manipulation of one’s face or body – by ways means of narcissism, cross-dressing etc.”

The art pieces were in forms of mixed media – photographs, videos, 3D models and paintings. One series of photograph depicts various positions of birth of the artist himself naked, snapped from the perspective of a viewer and the person giving birth. Finding and defining our identity was in my humble opinion clearly as the overall theme of this exhibition. From what I saw, each and every one of us are locked in a constant lifelong struggle to search for our own unique identity – and this struggle ain’t easy for ourselves or anyone else for that matter.