Benedictines – Reditus / exhibition set

Evaluation of the author’s work by Jan Hlavatý:

After several years, professional photographer Jiří Nováček returned to the Benedictine monastery in Rajhrad, one of the oldest residences of this order in the Czech-Moravian territory, in order to create a new photographic report and at the same time document this place.

In contrast to the previous collection, Jiří Nováček chose the presentation of large-format photographs and used a color solution in the visual aspect, but very sparingly chosen in a darker scale.

The currently presented photographic collection documents the beauty and vastness of the Rajhrad monastery, equipped with impressive frescoes and a large library.

Jiří Nováček very sensitively evokes the connection of the details of the plastic elements of the prayer space with the faces of monks immersed in meditation. In another shot, the environment of the sculpture depository is successfully depicted in the past of damaged sculptures with figures of monks moving between them.

From the documentary, on the faces of the inhabitants of the monastery, on the one hand, you can see an expression of personal happiness, on the other hand, a certain nostalgia and a partial detachment from ordinary life.