The project was created by artist Sonya Darrow, who wanted to achieve a wider narrative on Czech-American identity through communal interpretations of heritage. The first part of the project was recently completed in Iowa. The artist explored pathways across the state inspired by Czech settlements from Dvorak in Spillville to Protivin. The communities responded to the artist’s engagement through creative storytelling with objects to creating a sound archive of the Czech dialect in Iowa.
Join artist Sonya Darrow for the opening of her exhibition Stezky/Pathways along with a lecture about the outcomes in Iowa and her continued engagements between the two homelands. She will present her recent artwork: Protivin/Protivín as well as pieces from her sound archive. Stezky/Pathways is in partnership with the National Czech & Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, IA, USA (ncsml.org) and funded by the Iowa Arts Council & the National Endowment for the Arts.
The program will be in English.
Sonya Darrow refers to herself as an heirloom caretaker along with being an artist and cultural practitioner. She navigates her life between the two homelands of Iowa and the Czech Republic. Sonya has exhibited internationally in various spaces from landfills to factories. Her studio is at the Koh-i-Noor factory in Prague. Currently, she is a student of Cultural Sociology at Masaryk University.
