The Case of a Stolen Talking Tomcat : Artistic iconoclasm as a possible way of questioning the authority of image and stereotypes reproduced in culture and education.
Abstract
This article presents and analyses the artistic work of the group of Czech and Slovak Romani artists Romane Kale Panthera. Using an example of appropriating a classic work by famous Czech artist Josef Lada, Romane Kale Panthera show the problematic issue of verbal and visual testimonies and the changeability of their effects in the social environment.
The centre of the authors' interest is the illustrated story of the talking tomcat, considered an icon by many generations of Czech children, the meaning of which, however, is the exact opposite for children from the Romani minority. The authors try to explain how, as a result of changes to the basic text of the fairy tale and a change of visual signs in a classic illustration, the contexts of the contents of the work, the position of its user and its performative effects are changing, too.
In conclusion, the text reflects on the function of language, the circumstances, under which a change in thinking and behaviour occurs in relation to the other.