While examining the social and psychological implications of participatory art, Katerina Sedá uses performance to facilitate interaction between neighbors who are socially disconnected, despite geographical proximity.

Katerina Šedá

Katerina Sedá seeks to revitalize communities by encouraging the active participation of her friends, family, and township residents. Her public performances, inspired by social environments within her native town, stem from meticulous planning and communal cooperation. Sedá optimistically encourages the formation and sustainability of new hospitable relationships among neighbors that would not occur otherwise. For Over and Over (2008), she crossed 100 consecutive fences separating property lines between Brno homes, forcing neighbors to communicate with one another to create a device that would allow Sedá to traverse their borders. While her participatory art projects frequently evolve into intricate installations for exhibitions, the desired product is the successful collaboration and interaction among citizens who are socially distant yet geographically close. Sedá studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and her projects have been displayed in galleries and art fairs across the country, including the New Museum; Manifesta 7, Italy; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Cubitt Gallery and Studios, London; the 2005 Prague Biennial; and the 2008 Berlin Biennial. She is the recipient of the Tranzit Award (2004) and the Essl Award (2005).

Lives and works in Prague and Brno-Lisen, Czech Republic.