Tereza Bušková
Mothers without Hands
Mothers without Hands presents outcomes from an international project initiated and developed by Birmingham-based artist Tereza Bušková, which involved diverse communities in Folkestone, Prague, Erdington and Walsall in creative workshops and public processions to raise awareness of violence against women and girls.
The exhibition takes its title from The Girl Without Hands, a 1200-year-old fairy tale collected and revised by the Brothers Grimm. Featuring a girl whose hands are cut off and magically restored, it is a story not only about patriarchal oppression, persecution, violation and trauma, but also survival, strength and healing.
The project is inspired by an ancient Czech custom known as Ježíškovy matičky, which coincides with the Easter holidays. Both a religious and pagan ceremony traditionally led by two ‘Madonnas’ who carry a sculpture of Christ on the cross, Beloved Mothers of Christ celebrates the abundance of new life that comes with spring. It is also said to have been employed both as a form of protest and a means of protection by local women who had been raped by the men they worked for and their apprentices in nearby villages. Bušková’s reinterpretation of this uniquely Moravian ritual sees Christ replaced by a Sklenovska Matička (Beloved Mother), an intricately braided figure made from leaven dough symbolising womanhood and motherhood and a recurring motif that centres women and girls at the heart the exhibition.
Headdresses, ceremonial crowns and costumes designed and co-created by women during making and baking workshops in Folkestone, Prague, Erdington and Walsall are presented alongside a major video work by Bušková encompassing footage of participatory processional performances in each location. The exhibition also includes a new series of photographic prints and a site-specific soap drawing, inspired by the practice of soap painting on windows in Moravia, Czechia.
Tereza Bušková was born in Prague in 1978. She lives and works in Birmingham. Her practice is inspired by Slavic, British and European folklore as well as global cultural traditions. Over the last decade Bušková has championed folk-inspired art and craft for social change by actively involving diverse communities in Birmingham, Walsall and adjacent Black Country towns in craft, making and baking workshops as part of participatory projects which have focused on themes of identity, belonging and home. Bušková’s work demonstrates a deep interest in the handmade and found, in the reinterpretation of cultural and material histories and in investigations into the resilience and revival of ritual. Recent exhibitions include Friends in Love and War (IKON, Birmingham and Museum of Contemporary Art of Lyon, 2024-25, supported by the British Council) and Hidden Mothers (Midlands Art Centre, 2024).
Celebration event
Saturday 19 September, 2 – 4pm
Free, all welcome
Join artist Tereza Bušková and curator of the exhibition, Dr. Nicola Baird, for a talk about Mothers without Hands. The event will also involve a protective sand pouring performance by Bušková inspired by nineteenth century Polish preparations for religious feasts and Pre-Christian Slavic springtime customs.
