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Where is Czechoslovakia?
 

Eva Fuka was born and raised in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The castle in this picture can be seen from most points in the city of Prague, and if you have ever been there you would probably recognize it as the “Prague Castle.” The river in the photograph runs right through the center of Prague. Christian Peterson, Associate Curator of Photography at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, chose this photograph because it is a document of Prague and there are few photographs of Czechoslovakia in the museum’s collection. Peterson thought that this photo would help visitors understand Fuka’s other work in the collection.

Prague, a city in the heart of Europe,
is the place where I was born.
A city of strange remembrances of the past,
mysterious and full of contradictions.
Here, Arcimboldo, the father of surrealism,
created his masterpieces in the late sixteenth century;
Franz Kafka spent his short life in the cobblestoned center of this city;
and, within the medieval walls of Prague’s ghetto,
the first robot Golem was born.
It is a city which influenced me deeply and forever.
Why did I choose a camera as an instrument of expression?
It allows me to show my love and admiration for confrontation,
contrast, and the absurdity of life.
Photography opens my eyes to save those unique moments
otherwise doomed to be lost.

– Eva Fuka

 
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Minneapolis Institute of Arts