UNKNOWN ARTIST
2026

National Gallery Prague
May 17, 2026

Wasserkirche, Zürich
12.6 – 12.7.2026
Opening and performance: June 13, 2026

A transnational project unfolding across Prague and Zurich, UNKNOWN ARTIST takes the form of a performative procession and an immersive installation. Developed in collaboration with students of art academies, the project pays tribute to unnamed and forgotten artists while reflecting on authorship, visibility, and the desire for recognition. Situating itself at the intersection of performance, somatic and therapeutical practice, exhibition-making, and institutional intervention, the project probes the conditions under which artistic value is assigned, preserved, or erased. Presented first at the National Gallery Prague and subsequently at Wasserkirche Zurich—alongside the installation The House of Dead Images—the project creates a layered dialogue between living bodies, historical artworks, and the silent persistence of artistic memory.

Performance: National Gallery Prague

This performative and somatic procession guides audiences from the tourist-bustling Hradčany Square into the contrastingly quiet galleries of the National Gallery Prague’s Old Masters collections. Moving between public space and institutional interiors, the performance stages an encounter between the embodied, sonic presence of performers and the “silent” works on display—spanning both canonical and unknown figures in art history. In doing so, it foregrounds the museum not only as a site of preservation, but also as a structure that produces hierarchies of visibility and historical relevance. The work unfolds through somatic and meditative spatial interactions, including a durational performance at the Schwarzenberg Palace. The procession culminates in the unveiling of a monument to the unknown artist, followed by an aperitif in the garden of the Salm Palace.

The performance is commissioned by National Gallery Prague as a part of the International Museum Day.

Performance: Wasserkirche Zurich

In Zurich, UNKNOWN ARTIST enters into dialogue with the site-specific installation The House of Dead Images, presented for the first time at Wasserkirche. The performance adapts to the architecture and historical resonance of the church space, further emphasizing themes of memory, anonymity, and the afterlife of images. Here, the sacral context amplifies questions of devotion, remembrance, and the ritualization of artistic legacy. Psychotherapeutic and group-dynamic elements are employed to initiate intensive processes and address existential themes. After a closed experiential part, the group moves into the public spaces of the museum and creates performative elements and experimental interactions with the audience.

Exhibition: The House of Dead Images, Wasserkirche Zurich

Developed since 2021, The House of Dead Images is an immersive installation composed of numerous artworks by forgotten or self-taught artists, collected and reworked by Roman Buxbaum over the years. The installation is housed within a wooden structure made of painted slats, evoking attic or cellar compartments—spaces of storage, neglect, and latent memory. Working with found objects—a recurring strategy throughout Buxbaum’s oeuvre—the installation assembles a dense scenography inhabited by traces of painters, sculptors, and artisans. These artifacts are granted a second life within the structure, complicating notions of authorship and originality while proposing an ethics of reuse and care. Visitors are invited to enter the installation as a space of introspection, embarking on a journey into their own visual memory and early image experiences.

The performance and exhibition are presented as part of the Zurich Art Weekend.

Prague iteration

Concept and dramaturgy: Roman Buxbaum
Curatorial and dramaturgical collaboration: Michal Novotný, Karina Kottová
Performers: Karolína Kubešová, Zbyněk Rohlík, Barbora Šošolíková, Alessandra Točoňová (DAMU), and students of art academies
Production: Hana Kozubová
Duration: approx. 120 minutes

Zurich iteration & exhibition

Concept and dramaturgy: Roman Buxbaum
Exhibition curator: Christoph Lichtin
Performance curatorial and dramaturgical collaboration: Karina Kottová
Performers: Karolína Kubešová, Zbyněk Rohlík, Barbora Šošolíková, Alessandra Točoňová (DAMU), and students of art academies
Duration: approx. 120 minutes