A visitor participating in Lenka Klodová’s performance
during the Festival of Naked Forms 2025
Photo by K. Raimund

The Summer School of Critical Work with Nudity is a program designed to offer a comprehensive approach to this important issue in the visual arts. The motif of the nude human body is fundamental both in artists’ work and in the interpretation of art history. We see that the experience of studying the human nude (whether through life drawing or modelling) remains the foundation of the artistic craft. However, we are more interested in a contemporary critical approach influenced by a feminist perspective. In line with the criticism by the Guerrilla Girls, who pointed out the need to distinguish between the dual presence of the body in visual art—the body as an object of representation and the body that creates—we focus our interest primarily on the artist’s engagement with their own body, as manifested primarily in performative formats. The appropriation of the interpretation of one’s own naked body in an artistic gesture is also subject to the evolution and shifts in sensibilities—the solitary existential gestures typical of body art from the 1960s are now countered by concepts of safety and care.

The summer school is held in collaboration with the Festival of Naked Forms (FNAF), an art event with a twelve-year tradition that provides a professional platform for the presentation and reflection on artistic work with nudity. The festival’s goal is to foster professional discussion on the function of nudity in art and criticism, to destigmatize this topic, and to ensure a safe environment for its presentation.

The issue of nudity is multifaceted, and if we wish to achieve a more comprehensive understanding, we cannot limit ourselves solely to the realm of personal artistic expression. When dealing with nudity, it is more important than with other topics to learn to understand the cultural, historical, gender, racial, and other dimensions that intersect with the theme of nudity. The issue of documenting such works and their subsequent communication with audiences and the public is also essential. Artistic work thus touches on morality, customs, and the legal framework.

Aware of this complexity, we have developed a system for the Summer School that examines work with nudity from three perspectives: that of the creator, that of the documentarian, and that of the person mediating interpretation and criticism.

Summer School students will be able to choose their focus within these three categories. This individual focus will be reflected primarily in the offline part. In the online part, we will consume all three perspectives together.

Workshop on ethical photography by the Divý tvor group
at the Festival of Naked Forms 2016
Photo by Š. Krejča

1. The perspective of performing artists

Lecturer: Prof. Mgr.A. Lenka Klodová, Ph.D. – artist, professor at the Faculty of Fine Arts (FFA BUT), founder and organizer of FNAF

Online presentation:

• brief historical overview of issues surrounding the use of nudity in the visual arts
• presentation of the theme of nudity from the perspective of her own creative work and a feminist perspective
• political dimensions in works involving nudity, nudity in public space
• naked art from the perspective of law and customs
• the relationship between nude performance and other shows involving nudity

Offline activity:

• Students who choose this perspective will have the opportunity to design, develop, prepare, and perform their own performance within the FNAF.

Discussions with artists, critics, and visitors
during the Festival of Naked Forms 2025
Photo by K. Raimund