Milota Havránková

* 1945

  • “It was very interesting that my photographs were published everywhere. All of the university magazines Echo had my photos. Even though, they were the pictures of my relatives, all of them had quite surreal drift. Actually, the period in which we lived back then was also very surreal in certain way. The 1960s were for our parents extremely difficult years. We didn’t realize it back then, we mainly just rebelled and only knew, that something was happening and it was necessary to do something against it.”

  • “Actually, I had realized one thing – that I wasn’t allowed to create a true documentary with my students, that I couldn’t document the absolute reality, which was happening at those streets back then. Anyway, I tried to create some kind of asylum with the students and I tried to teach them to relax and at least, create their own freedom. So, at school we started to make photographs about music or we made up different imaginary scenarios, which had nothing in common with the reality.”

  • “So to say, I dealt with feminism without even knowing about it. In 1975 an International Women’s Year was designated and I was asked to create an exhibition on women in Martin. Of course, back then a woman was imagined as someone behind a machine, as a woman-worker. I was thinking very hard about how to prepare the exhibition. Finally, I inspired myself by different authors who wrote about women. I tried to find out how they perceived a woman in their stories. In the end I came to conclusion that each of those poets and writers perceived a woman in his own, different way.”

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    Bratislava, Slovensko, 07.06.2018

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First of all, we must create freedom in ourselves

Portrait
Portrait
zdroj: pri natáčaní ED

Milota Havránková was born on August 7, 1945 in Košice. After the family moved to Bratislava, Milota studied photography at the School of Applied Arts in Bratislava. For certain time she worked in the field of medical documentation, later as a photojournalist for Film Studios in Koliba. In 1966 she started studying camera at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. During her studies and the fateful occupation months, she photographed for the student magazine Echo. After obtaining her degree, she worked as a freelance artist and later as a teacher of art photography at the School of Applied Arts in Bratislava. From 1977 to 1991 she worked as a freelancer, devoted herself mainly to creative art works, interior design and fashion. Since the 1990s she has taught at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and later at FAMU (Film and TV School, Academy of Performing Arts) in Prague. In 2006 she was awarded the title of Professor of Creative Art.