Mojmir Bures

Born in Czech Republic, I graduated with an MA in Photography from the Royal College of Art, London in 2019 shortly after a BA course at FAMU in Prague and an Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture scholarship in Helsinki. I work as a passionate freelance photographer, and videographer. Currently I am also working on a digitalisation of the art collection of the National Gallery in Prague.

Q: WHAT WAS YOUR ROUTE TO YOUR CURRENT ARTISTIC PRACTICE?

VHS used to be my favourite toy in childhood. I liked recording the daily routine of my life. This experience turned into a fascination with photography and the medium of film. Just a bit later I became obsessed with capturing people, objects, shapes and shadows. I began studying Art from the age of fifteen and have continued ever since. At my BA studies I finally started to explore my visual style and started to look for photographic topics. With most of them that I still deal with even today. One of my big dreams came true after finishing BA when I got invited to the prestigious Royal College of Art, London. I lived and worked there for three years. But soon I found myself in a world that was foreign to me, and my real home became more and more distant from me. I realized I look at the rest of the world through the eyes of a stranger and I found inspiration in that. My work conception deals with the current social topics of coexistence of man and territory since then. Art attracted me from an early age as well. I dare to say that I started to understand it much better when I met my teacher photographer and artist Libuše Jarcovjaková, who inspired me not only with her subjective documentary photographs shot mostly during the communist era, but also with her life path and authentic stories. Subsequently, it was also Peter Kennard, with whom I studied in London, and whose radically critical approach appealed to me and inspired me to reconsider my own artistic body of work.

Q: CAN YOU IDENTIFY ANY ELEMENTS OF YOUR COMMUNITY OR COLLABORATORS THAT HAVE HAD A STRONG INFLUENCE?

During the three years of living abroad without a family, I realized how rare direct human contact, spoken word, eye contact and other subtle nuances of the body are. That is why I believe that the human need – coexistence, sharing time and space – is an essential element of any community. Freedom, creativity, originality, identity, discussion; are factors that I and my community require. I believe that the main element of my community is curiosity, knowledge and sharing.

Q: HOW IS YOUR PROJECT TIED TO THE CIRCA X DAZED CLASS OF 20:21 THEME OF ‘COMMUNION’ ?

This video, titled “Imagine” I have used a photograph taken by “Anas Baba” which became historically significant immediately. The chosen photograph depicts the night sky with the rockets and counter rockets. I have made a digital collage, where I removed all the weapons and therefore reshaped the image back to the ordinary calm night. With this simple symbolic manipulation I am creating a new land and new fictional communities living in peace. I do not consider this video as political or religious but rather as a reminder of peace and freedom it used to have before the tragic events.

Q: HOW WOULD THE CIRCA PRIZE OF £30,000 IMPACT YOUR FUTURE PRACTICE?

Dramatically! I definitely want to expand and continue my practice and look for topics that will resonate among society. By studying and living in England, the finances for my personal work were very limited and unfortunately for economic reasons I could not afford to create according to my own ideas.

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