by Olivia Noss // Mar. 18, 2025
Libuše Jarcovjáková is a queer Czech photographer who, over the course of her career, has seamlessly merged her personal life with her photographic practice. Her series, ‘T-Club – Just Like in Paradise,’ captures a queer nightlife oasis in Prague during Communism. KVOST Galerie is showcasing 40 of her images from this body of work, taken between the years 1983-1985. These images, shot on 35mm black-and-white film, reveal a unique articulation of levity and frivolity within a queer community greatly oppressed by Soviet rule.
Libuše Jarcovjáková: ‘Untitled,’ from the series ‘T-Club,’ 1980s // Courtesy of Libuše Jarcovjáková and KVOST, Berlin
The installation of the works mimics the vibrant and unpredictable compositions of the photos themselves. One of the first images one encounters in this space is a life-sized circular vinyl cut-out of two women kissing, mounted on the wall. The image seems to pulsate within the gallery, as it is cast in the glow of fuchsia pink strip light, imbuing it with an auratic quality. This photograph sets the tone for the show: one that is playful, joyous, warm and uninhibited.
Libuše Jarcovjáková: ‘Untitled,’ from the series ‘T-Club,’ 1980s // Courtesy of Libuše Jarcovjáková and KVOST, Berlin
The opening partition leads to a larger room beginning with a row of small prints. 1980s haircuts fill Jarcovjáková’s frames—women with teased mullets, shags and feathered bangs. There is a spontaneity to these images, as subjects pose on impulse, reacting to Jarcovjáková’s lens mid-sentence or mid-dance. The impromptu nature of the photos allows for a large amount of improvisation and personal expression, while the looseness of the photographer’s framing seems to imply that she too was taking part in the revelry of these evenings.
Libuše Jarcovjáková: ‘Untitled,’ from the series ‘T-Club,’ 1980s // Courtesy of Libuše Jarcovjáková and KVOST, Berlin
While many of the photographs depict Jarcovjákova’s friends and club regulars, there are plenty of others who are also stragglers. In Czechoslovakia at the time, homosexual sexual acts were considered deviant and could result in imprisonment. The stakes were high for those who frequented T-Club, as many were not out to their families and it was not uncommon for police to loom and pounce on the venue at any moment. Given these circumstances, having one’s photo taken in an overtly queer space was inherently vulnerable. Despite this, there is a trust from Jarcovjáková’s subjects that comes through in these images—a trust in a person who won’t hold evidence of their true selves against them.
Libuše Jarcovjáková: ‘Untitled,’ from the series ‘T-Club,’ 1980s // Courtesy of Libuše Jarcovjáková and KVOST, Berlin
This remainder of the show continues with a salon-style hang on the central wall. Images dance across the gallery like the clubbers themselves, leading the eye to a grid-style hang on the penultimate wall, and finishing once again with a line of small prints. There is a visual dynamism to this installation that parallels an energetic culmination of a night out. The 35mm flash photography gives this work an almost snapshot appearance, which is now what some might initially write off as “party photography.” Looking more closely, the images are so much more than that, serving as evidence of a period of great rebellion and perseverance by a queer community—an expression of freedom that rejects the oppression of its time. They are images whose persistent joy serves just as much as a time capsule as an act of resistance.
Exhibition Info
KVOST
Libuše Jarcovjáková: ‘T-Club – Just Like in Paradise’
Exhibition: Feb. 27-Apr. 19, 2025
kvost.de
Leipziger Str. 47, 10117 Berlin, click here for map
