LIBUŠE JARCOVJÁKOVÁ : T-Club – Just Like in Paradise

In the organizer's words:

After the suppression of the Prague Spring in 1968, Czechoslovakia was frozen in a climate of political control and social conformity for almost two decades. In this atmosphere of surveillance, the T-Club became a refuge for the LGBTQ+ community, where people found safety and belonging for a moment. State security was always present, but within the walls of the club a self-chosen family emerged, a world of freedom within unfreedom.

"Strobe lights and super-chilled vodka, just before midnight - no room to move, too small, a crowded room, the air thick with smoke." Jarcovjáková, herself part of the community, documented life in the club: intimate moments of joy, desire and togetherness - far removed from the oppressive realities of everyday life. "Everything was so incredibly lively, colorful, in contrast to the dreary gray outside," says Jarcovjáková, "just like in paradise." The images shown, dating from 1983 to 1985, convey a sense of authenticity, with the striking graininess resulting from the high sensitivity of the film. "I used a flash because I wanted to be seen while I was taking photos. It was important to me that people have a choice whether they want to be in the photos or not."

After a murder at the T-Club, the police demanded her photographs. The photographer handed over an overexposed negative. It was her last from the T-Club and she realized how easily her pictures could be misused. Shortly afterwards, she left Prague and went to West Berlin, where she photographed the "Black Years" series.

Libuše Jarcovjáková (*1952, Prague) has been photographing the reality of her own life since the 1970s. Her pictures are raw, unembellished and deeply personal. A fictitious marriage enabled her to leave for West Berlin in 1985 and she spent five years in the Kreuzberg district. She also lived in Tokyo, where she worked as a fashion photographer, among other things. In 2017, she gained international recognition with her monograph Černé roky (Black Years), followed by her breakthrough in 2019 with the book and exhibition Evokativ, which was shown at the Rencontres d'Arles and named the best photographic achievement of the year by The Guardian. Since fall 2024, the National Gallery in Prague has dedicated a comprehensive retrospective to her work. The documentary film I am not yet who I want to be about her life and work celebrated its premiere at the Berlinale 2024. The film will be released in German cinemas on 25.02.2025.

The exhibition is a cooperation between the Czech Center Berlin, KVOST and the publisher untitled. The film is presented in cooperation with the film distributor Salzgeber.

Accompanying program
25.02.2025 at 20:00 Premiere: I am not yet who I want to be in the presence of Libuše Jarcovjáková and director Klára Tasovská, fsk Kino, Berlin