In his work Michal Honkys is exploring the transition of his Eastern European homeland, once an industrial, prosperious boast of the comunist regime, nowadays a quickly transforming place, that is adopting all the aspects of democracy.



„Ostrava“ is a project about an industrial town and surroundings of what used to be known as Czechoslovakia for several decades of communist rule. After the illusory promises of prosperity by the communist regime, it witnessed a dramatic decline that translated into degradation of urban and rural areas, as much as into the often unspoken resentment of the Ostravans towards the oppressive system.



The remnants of the past that had gone wrong still lie scattered across the newly built grounds. There has not been an absolute change, but a transformation which bears the traceable residue of the past, silently standing upright at present time.



“Ostrava” is a journey through newly verdant forests crisscrossed by green-coloured pipelines, through rural and urban spaces often laden with rubble and hips of materials, and is often unclear whether construction or demolition is taking place.