For people who find themselves totally out of step with the alien rule of their own country but are not able to physically escape a repressive regime, an “inner emigration” is often the only solution to their plight. They encase their thoughts and feelings in a cocoon of close family or trustworthy friends, or even in complete solitude. This has happened many times in human history. The term “inner emigration” is old in its meaning. As an idiom it was coined in Nazi Germany, and it was commonly used in communist countries. It is still applicable in many places throughout the world.

Vladimír Kokolia spent half of his life in communist Czechoslovakia. Along with many others, he experienced “inner emigration” in the political sense. Yet in this installation he wants to examine the term with a broader meaning: as a general strategy for those who feel their inner lives are being consumed by the outside world. Kokolia’s “Inner Emigration” at TFAM centers around turning one’s orientation inward.