CulturePublicIn-person

Guided Tour Exhibition HOMESICK ELSEWHERE - Pravoslav Sovak

Name: Guided Tour Exhibition HOMESICK ELSEWHERE - Pravoslav Sovak
Start: 2026-09-27T14:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-09-27T23:59:00+02:00
Location: Engelbergstrasse 54a, 6370 Stans, Schweiz

Engelbergstrasse 54a, 6370 Stans, Schweiz
Stans, Switzerland
Sun, July 5, 2026 (2:00 pm - 11:59 pm)
Sun, September 27, 2026 (2:00 pm - 11:59 pm)

Learn MoreSun 5 Jul

Description

He was one of the most important contemporary printmakers with worldwide influence: Pravoslav Sovak. Born in 1926 in Vysoké Mýto in East Bohemia, the artist lived from 1978 until his death in 2022 in Hergiswil. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, the Nidwaldner Museum is dedicating a comprehensive exhibition to him. The focus is on works that reflect his lifelong homesickness. A homesickness that originated from the invasion of the Soviet army on August 21, 1968, in Prague, which the 42-year-old "left" on the same day – in his own words. Switzerland granted him asylum in 1969, and in 1978 he built a house with a studio in Hergiswil. From here, Sovak repeatedly set out into the world, often to America. Fascinated by the nameless expanses of the Arizona deserts, city views, or vertical building structures of New York skyscrapers, timeless works were created about (deserted) places of refuge, imaginary spaces and places, mixed with memories of Bohemia, past travels, and life in the Hergiswil house, garden, and surroundings. Sovak never spoke loudly about homesickness or the loss of homeland. It is his sensual, technically brilliant oeuvre that often reflects a deep longing for identity or location and lets us experience that home is always changeable and shapeable. In a single picture, which took over eight years to create, he expresses it in the title: Homesick. An unmistakable unquenched longing for a place that gives a sense of home – a place that hovers promisingly close above the horizon yet seems to lie in unreachable distance. The exhibition runs until October 4, 2026.
Curated by: Martina Kral

Highlights

Public guided tour with curator Martina Kral
Exhibition for the 100th birthday of Pravoslav Sovak
Focus on works reflecting homesickness and identity

General Information

The exhibition HOMESICK ELSEWHERE at the Nidwaldner Museum is dedicated to the work of the important printmaker Pravoslav Sovak. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, his works are presented, which thematize his longing for home and identity.