BIG THING - UMPRUM's school-wide exhibition will be presented as part of Brussels Design September

The concept of the exhibition project is influenced by the focus of the school, which provides education in art, architecture and design. Thanks to a diverse range of disciplines, students have the opportunity to learn not only various technological and craft skills, but also think in an interdisciplinary context. Their work is not limited to the bubble of academic assignments, but has an overlap and reflects on issues that define our world. "Their ability to focus on one theme, to develop it with focused precision, to not get distracted and to fulfill their intention is indeed a big thing", defines one of the ideas of the exhibition curators Marie Kordovská and Anna Sedláček Roubalová.

The curators perceive and further process in the project the all-encompassing sense of paralysis resulting from the overload of news about extreme political, climatic, social and other extreme situations. People receive this information through their mobile phones and computers. The sheer volume of information, often generated by algorithms, leaves individuals unable to solve problems and leads to a feeling of being overwhelmed and powerless.

"It was important for us, the curators of The Big Thing, that our visitors not feel similarly overwhelmed. We think that it is possible to get rid of paralysis. Therefore, we selected student works that reflect this notion. They are projects that approach the world as a place that is still worth exploring, listening to and caring for. The works on display do not demonstrate the individual genius of the creator, nor do they present utopian visions of a universal collective practice. They propose tangible and real solutions that can help us live a little better", explain Marie Kordovská and Anna Sedláček Roubalová.

The exhibition at the Prague House presents a selection of projects by UMPRUM students across all studios of the school. Each of them offers its own way to solve a given problem, to change the perspective, to get inspiration from others, or to start with oneself. The issues of each work are documented and presented in detail in the exhibition catalogue.

The eleventh UMPRUM show at the Brussels Design September festival will be open until September 30th.

Curators of the exhibition: Marie Kordovská, Anna Sedláček Roubalová and Petr Hák.
Exhibitors:
Ilya Bazhanov, Dita Buchtová, Tereza Burianová, Julie Černá, Sofie Gjuričová, Thea Chatrná, Svetlana Devyatkina, Sabina Falcmanová, Inga Khatiashvili, Jakub Kozelka, Valéria Kršiaková, Adam Kvaček, Darja Lukjanenko, Jasmína Lustigová, Mike Ma, Jiří Macků, Tomáš Máčik, Ondřej Mazanec, Matej Mihályi, Petra Mikolášová, Jakub Míča, Matěj Neubert, David Novák, Kristína Opálková, Natália Peterková, Mikuláš Procházka, Ruta Putramentaite, Anastázie Rainischová, Jakub Rozehnal, Šimon Schnierer, Barbora Satranská, Ondřej Salava, Filip Sobol, Ema Soukupová, David Stingl, Antónia Stretavská, Kateřina Suchánková, Kateřina Šípová, Jana Štefková, Jáchym Štulíř, Thanh Mai Tranová, Tuan Trieu, Patrik Trska, Jonáš Urbánek, Valerie Vrbová, Josef Žárský, and Viktória Žigmundová.
Exhibition design: COSA: Markéta Mráčková, and Barbora Šimonová.
Graphic design: Ondřej Mazanec, Kateřina Pravdová
Photography: Tomáš Zumr

The exhibition was created in cooperation with the Prague House in Brussels.