sometimes i like to go to gym with my hair loose / exhibition

Slovak artist Ľuboš Kotlár, laureate of the Oskár Čepan Award 2025, presents an installation at Artivist Lab that, in line with the theme of the Times Are Changing festival, names the tensions of the current social climate.

Kotlár has long worked with "situations" – time- and site-specific installations activated by the presence of people in space. The gallery transforms into a locker room with lockers, benches, showers and traces of an absent body. This intimately familiar yet unsettled space opens up questions of bodily expectations, the cult of performance, queer vulnerability, and the social pressure that increasingly dictates who is allowed to be seen, how they may look, and how they may exist in public space.

In the context of growing social polarisation and the strengthening grip of right-wing conservative tendencies in Europe, the installation takes on a distinctly political dimension. The exhibition also opens space to consider how Roma and queer experiences intersect around questions of visibility, memory, intimacy, vulnerability, and the search for new forms of belonging and solidarity.

Ľuboš Kotlár – visual artist and photographer currently based between Prague and Bratislava. Originally from Šaľa, he completed his Master's studies at the Department of Photography and New Media at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (2016–2018), where he also earned his Bachelor's degree (2012–2016). His education included study stays at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem (2017) and the Aalto School of Art, Design and Architecture in Helsinki (2014). He has completed residencies at Residency Unlimited in New York (2025), Jaw Dikh in Poland (2024), MeetFactory in the Czech Republic (2022) and Villa Romana in Italy (2021). He currently works as an assistant professor at the Department of Photography and New Media at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. In 2016 he received the Young Talent of the Year award at Slovak Press Photo, and in 2025 he became a laureate of the Oskár Čepan Award. He exhibits regularly in Slovakia and abroad. His work has been presented at OFF Bratislava (2025), the Biennale Matter of Art in Prague (2022) and Manifesta 14 in Skopje (2022), among others.

Admission – voluntary

Accessibility – suitable for teens, dog-friendly, wheelchair accessible

Vibe check – standing only, indoor space

Organised by – Artivist Lab Artivist Lab is an independent gallery and interdisciplinary platform at Kampus Hybernská in Prague, connecting contemporary art, activism, education and public debate. It focuses on socially engaged projects, exhibitions, performances, lectures and workshops addressing themes of human rights, memory, feminism, queer politics, decolonial approaches and environmental issues. It creates space for critical thinking, solidarity and international collaboration.