Photographers seem to be attracted by two extents. One is the adventure of discovering the world, and the other is an intense and distinct aesthetic. In this sense, Pavel Ziegler is an exemplary case. His life was by no means ordinary. Born in Nové Město na Moravě, he made his way to Brno, but was ostracised by the pre-November regime to the North Moravian Jeseník region. Before he could leave his socialist homeland, the Velvet political transformation came. Thanks to it, he went out, first to Vienna and then to Italy. Being in an Italian art environment, and among other activities, trading in art, definitely leaves a mark on the soul. From Italy it's only a hop, skip and a jump to Africa, so it would be good to explore those parts as well. One could make a living by trading minerals and observing the environment of what God knows is called the third world. That there is only one world, and ours, full and colourful, in which we set criteria for life without geographical limitations and leave an aesthetic and artistic trace in it, in the photographer's case, is a knowledge that is priceless, and for Pavel Ziegler, after his return to the Czech lands, it was the basis for extensive photographic acceleration.

Ziegler's photographs are extremely aesthetic, in the choice of motifs, colour excitement and classic artistry. Colour is a formative element, after all, the Italian Renaissance, which he devoured during his Italian sojourn, is colourful, and after all, so is Africa itself. We may not encounter the Renaissance there, but the use of colour there is spontaneous and naturally rooted in the African mentality. It also has something of the popular culture; indeed, pop art, and Italian pop art at that, is another major artistic stimulus for Ziegler. The restlessness of life also exposes artistic experimentation, which included abandoned experiments in painting, but mainly tended towards a free yet genetically classical way of creating photographic images. If you work with classical artistry and colour, you cannot avoid the symbolic aspects of visual expression. Whether it is conditioned by personal feelings or based on more general experience, it is one of the essential components of a photographer's creativity. Especially if the main means of representation is the face, the head, the skin, the body. But perhaps it is enough to use only one word when surrounded by photographs: desire. Desire for beauty, desire for colour, desire for freedom. Let us each seek our own Blue World.

Martin Dostál, curator of the exhibition

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)