Keep Calm and Don't Carry On + Open Screens

In her new exhibition Amálie Dudová thematizes escapism, melancholy and collective imagination as ways of survival in times of uncertainty. Through large-scale drawings, fragmentary narratives and spatial objects, she creates an environment balancing between visual poetry, emo aesthetics and critical reflection on the present. The exhibition moves between disintegration and the need for belonging, asking whether it is possible to find a space for community, sharing and imagining a better world even in the ruins of lost ideas. Keep Calm and Don't Carry On functions as both a false mantra and a silent plea for refuge in a world where the ways out are constantly disappearing.

Amálie Dudová is a visual artist and activist studying at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava. Her work combines drawing and painting with personal mythology, emo aesthetics and collective experience. Her work balances between precise narrative and raw fragmentation, opening up a space for sharing, dialogue and the search for alternative forms of belonging.

Shortcut Gallery in collaboration with Open Studios Art Hub present the second edition of the Open Screens format focused on contemporary audiovisual art in Brno. The project is part of the Open Studios Brno 2026 festival, which this year is dedicated to the theme of audiovisual art. The selected works will be presented in the form of an exhibition and accompanying programme in the premises of the Káznice.

curators: Tamara Pavlechová, Ivana Hrončeková