"Ladies and gentlemen! Beloved and ignored ones! Thank you for coming! Today I will tell you a story, from a long, long time ago. About Vlasta, Lena, Ota, Jitřa and others, maybe even yourself. Girlfriends and guardians of equality, flowing milk, green pastures, relaxation and a way of life that fell out of favor after the death of Princess Libuša. Feared and at the same time beloved ruler of many eastern barbarian tribes. Behind every corner of her flaming catafalque rang out many voices: "Shame on men ruled by women." At the threshold of the underworld, Libuše could no longer defend herself and with pain in her heart - by the side of the Rožanice goddesses -- she watched how brave and good men, always competing with her for power - began their dominance and rule in such a way that they never wanted to have a woman by their side, but instead to grind her under them.” This is a story from those times of ancient iniquity, when some experienced pain and humiliation from others, and from that suffering arose a power unknown until then.

The story of the film goes back to the story of “The Maidens’ War”—taken from the Chronica Boemorum written by Cosmas in the twelfth century and very much present in the nineteenth-century Czech National Revival. As the tale has it, after the death of princess Libuše, women started an uprising against men and established Děvín Castle to fight the patriarchy. To this day, the story of women fighting men remains one of the most intriguing chapters in Bohemian history. The motto of the film revolves around a mysterious power which allows women to compete with men and stand against their physical superiority. From the exploration of methods of witchcraft, the narrative turns towards introducing a specific object, an artifact, an uncanny limb that holds a secret. While attached to one’s body, it allows one to fight primal fear and possess natural forces instead of being dependent on them. The TALE, which played a crucial role in the past helping the women from Děvín fight the men of Vyšehrad, can now be seen as a healing token combining the past, present, and future in a vortex of emancipation. 

Video was made in collaboration with curator and biker Piotr Sikora for Prague Bienale Matter of Art 2022

1920x1080

12 min

2022