(In) side

WO|V|EN consists of previously “woven” [also means confused] students of architecture who have grown into respectable women, architects – Danica Pišteková (*1987), Anna Cséfalvay (*1988), Marianna Maczová (*1988) and Veronika Michalíková (*1989).

They met during their studies at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava. They have founded a civic association called WOVEN, which was created, in their own words, probably from their need to create something with their own hands, on a scale which allows them quickly test and evaluate their results, which has remained their main driving force until today.¹ Since 2013, they have organised ten annual [1:1] Workshops [one to one workshop] in public space and recently published a book titled Tam vonku. Ako za desať dní zmeniť verejný priestor: Kontexty a príbehy [1:1] Workshopu [Out There. How to Change Public Space in Ten Days: Contexts and Stories of the [1:1] Workshop].

For the last ten years, they have been working on joint projects which they call “little architecture and playful interventions into environment and public space” ² – Forest Sauna in Spišský Hrhov (2019), Archipelago for the [fjúžn] Festival in Bratislava (2020 – 2021), Terrace design for the Goethe Institute, Bratislava (2022), Lakeside sitting steps, Železná Studnička, Bratislava (2022), Hviezdoveda [StarScience], viewpoint over Jelšava (2023), Baťa Point in Partizánske (2023) and Sauna on Wheels, somewhere in Slovakia (2022).

Outside is where WOVEN feel at home, safe and confident. The architects like to say they create grids, frames and frameworks for other content, interpretations and situations which allow them to share the instabilities of life.³ But the non-conformist space of the former service staircase of the Youth Gallery forces them to step outside of their comfort zone – the grid is done… stay outside, while also being inside?

WOVEN have waited for their first indoor solo exhibition to take place right here and you can assemble their story whichever way you want. They will allow you to do so, because WOVEN, it is also a blog – a shared platform for ideas when life steers them in different directions, so they have an anchor point that holds them together, in the online space. You can imagine a spiderweb, map, diaries, travelog, fiction… Or the exhibition right here, inside.

“We explore, research, ironise, overcome, provoke, shuffle, contemplate and blur the borders of spaces, relationships, environments and typologies.” ⁴

Welcome, come inside.