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The Baked Women of Doubice

The Baked Women of Doubice is set in the village of the same name, located in the North of Czech Republic where Tereza Buskova spent most of her weekends as a teenager. The film depicts a fictional ritual, presenting the ritual as if it were an annual occurrence for the residents of Doubice. The main focus of the film and the ritual action is a group of Prague women who visit the village at weekends. Together with the artists’ mother these women undertake a collective ritual of baking. The group of women kneed dough which is then baked and transformed into a baked woman; symbolising sisterhood, fertility, motherhood and the cycle of life in general. The pastry used in the baking comes from Vizovice and carries a strong Czech heritage sometimes being referred to as a “surviving pagan custom”. Made from ingredients which can be found in any common household, the pastry was originally used for religious celebrations and often formed into the shapes of animals to represent human characteristics. The collaborative effort of the women is mirrored in the development of the film project and the collaboration of artists, designers and musicians to produce the final work. 

End Notes

Go to footnote reference 1.

The Baked Women of Doubice 2012, HD Video, single screen with sound, 8min 32secs

Director: Tereza Buskova, The Baked Woman: Zoe Simon, Music: Bela Emerson, Editorial Assistants: The Stifani Brothers, Participants: The women of Doubice.

Images and film courtesy of the artist.

Tereza Buskova

Tereza Buskova celebrates and re-interprets long established customs in her practice, working across performance, print & video. Her work is not built on existing facts of past folk practices but rather, is a personalised exploration of the feelings and fantasies bound up in rich festive celebrations. After researching how people faithfully practice their traditions and rituals Buskova reinvents them with regular collaborators and local communities. Among many others actor writer Zoe Simon and cellist composer Bela Emerson have continuously contributed to realizing and re-interpreting her works. In 2016, days before the United Kingdom rejected union with Europe Buskova revived the British tradition of Clipping the Church with over 200 people from the town of Erdington. Weeks later sat in the church that was 'clipped' one resident ironically stated that migrants like Buskova only came to UK for money and are not interested in its culture.

Tereza Buskova is a Czech artist who lives in Birmingham with her young family. She completed her Fine Art Printmaking MA at the Royal College of Art in 2007. Since her graduation from the RCA Buskova has been exhibited by David Roberts (Rituals, 2008), Anita Zabludowicz (A Tradition I Do Not Mean To Break, 2009), the Newlyn Art Gallery (Rituals Are Tellers Of Us, 2013) and the Whitechapel Gallery (Reality Czech: the Czech Avant-Garde, 2015). She has exhibited, performed and lectured in a broad range of different spaces including Lincoln's Chambers Farm Wood 2010, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo 2014 and Erdington High Street 2016.