Hospitals typically symbolize a sense of safety for us—they offer publicly accessible, high-quality medical care concentrated in one place, a variety of care services, and serve as centers for cutting-edge research and medical and technological progress. However, in healthcare facilities, we naturally find ourselves in intimate situations that can be sensitive or even threatening—not only to our lives and health, but also in terms of the intensity of our experience. In these settings, we become very vulnerable, facing fears, uncertainty, pain, or a sense of helplessness stemming from bad news. 

Many hospital complexes were built during the modernist period of the last century. Their forms are rectangular, well-organized, and clean. They represent rationality, hygiene, and progress. But how do we feel in them? Can they accommodate our vulnerability? In what ways do architecture and art support the mental health needs of patients? 

The exhibition and walking tour series In Sickness and in Health will explore these themes from various perspectives, using the hospital complex of the Brno University Hospital in Bohunice as an example.

This extensive complex, designed in the mid-1960s, is a nationally significant example of postwar architecture with brutalist features, largely preserved in its authentic state and richly complemented by works of art from the second half of the 20th century. Its monumental seventeen-story structure towers over the city as both a symbol of protection and a memento. Its Brutalist and technicist façade evokes both admiration and anxiety. A machine for health, whose power is complemented by works of art—they bring color, organic shapes, a range of inviting materials, and, through their motifs, bring the human body and care to life.

Architect Miroslav Spurný himself likened the strictly scientifically organized and highly efficient hospital complex to modernist factory facilities. However, in collaboration with the medical team, he deliberately placed great emphasis on the comfort of hospitalized patients, which he sought to enhance through the layout, interior color scheme, and artistic decoration. 

A trio of new artworks by Medard Zeman, Lucie Rosenfeld, and Andi Schmied—temporarily installed on the hospital grounds and within its interiors—draws on the now-defunct postwar practice of mandating the inclusion of visual art in public institutions.

These contemporary works offer site-specific commentaries and interventions relating to the care of both the physical and mental aspects of the human being within the clearly structured and systematized operations and environment of the hospital. They focus on the individual in the healing process as well as on the constantly changing, living architectural organism of the hospital, which responds to the current demands of medicine. They highlight the power of sharing and the importance of a supportive community that alleviates the loneliness of challenging moments during treatment. 

As part of public events, the works will be complemented by expert-led thematic tours with sociologist Barbora Vacková, architectural historian Barbora Benčíková, and psychologist Tomáš Chodúr. The public will have the opportunity to discuss with them the role the hospital environment plays in the treatment process, how we perceive space and care from a patient’s perspective, and what can contribute to an easier recovery.

August 25, 2026, 6:00 PM
In Sickness and in Health: Medard Zeman, Barbora Vacková
opening reception and guided tour

meeting place: Brno University Hospital, Jihlavská 20, 625 00 Brno, behind the main entrance, in front of Pavilion CH

I Am a Machine with a Human Face
A sculpture of four intertwined bodies that fall toward one another yet simultaneously support each other. A complex interplay where roles are not clearly defined—patient or caregiver? Both the treatment process and the healing process can lead to a loss of identity in the pursuit of a higher purpose: health. The body becomes merely a component; the face remains the symbol of a person’s individuality and identity. Although the sculpture is made of metal and gives the impression of strength and stability, it is actually aluminum, which references the materiality of the hospital complex’s main building, yet is inherently soft and fragile—just like the very theme of the artwork itself.

Medard Zeman is a conceptual artist, musician, and sculptor. In his work, he naturally blends sculpture, intermedia approaches, performance, and visual art—most often navigating between the existentialism of everyday life and the critical grotesque of today’s world. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he trained in the sculpture, new media, and painting studios. He is currently a doctoral student at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Brno University of Technology, where his artistic research focuses on new forms of the art market, performativity, and methods for supporting the installation of artworks in public spaces. He has presented his work in a number of solo and group projects and exhibitions in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Hospitals as a Window into Society
A hospital located on the outskirts of the city is a common part of our lives—it’s there when we have a problem, but its presence should not be taken for granted. As an institution, the hospital has a long history, but its current form has taken shape primarily since the 19th century, alongside the rapid development of medicine. But it’s not just about medicine; it’s also about the governance of society, public health, architecture, and urban planning. All of this—and more—forms the framework of what we understand today as a “hospital.” And just as the hospital came into being, so too did its “patient” (the masculine gender is intentional in this case). It is precisely this role of the patient that captures the tension between universalism and individualism that is characteristic of our society.

Barbora Vacková is a sociologist who has long focused on modern urbanism and the theory of modernization, including the power asymmetries inherent in modern and late-modern societies and their manifestations in physical space. She has worked at the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University, where she still teaches today, and has also lectured at the faculties of architecture in Liberec and Brno. She is currently the head of the Department of Civic Education at the Faculty of Education at Masaryk University, where she focuses primarily on teaching sociology and related disciplines.

curators: Klára Eliášová, Šárka Svobodová

exhibiting artists: Medard Zeman, Lucie Rosenfeldová, Andi Schmied

guided tours: Barbora Vacková, Barbora Benčíková, Tomáš Chodúr

visual identity: Terezie Štindlová (Day Shift Office)