Jana Želibská's 1970 'Betrothal of Spring' Happening Merged Land Art, Feminism, and Slovak Folklore

Jana Želibská, a key figure in Central European action art since the mid-1960s, explored female identity, sexuality, and humanity's relationship to nature through diverse mediums including printmaking, installation, and performance. Her 1970 happening 'Betrothal of Spring' took place in a field near Dolné Orešany, blending erotic themes with Czech and Slovak folk rituals. Participants included young women in white dresses with flowers, while music by Debussy and Vivaldi was performed by composer Milan Adamčiak and others. A large textile piece by Miloš Urbásek guided an airplane to release ribbons, which attendees tied to trees and themselves. This event, along with works like 'Silkworm' and 'Maritime Greeting', emphasized play and collaboration while rejecting institutional and official Socialist art structures. Želibská's outdoor practice, developed in the early 1970s, connected to the international land-art movement and responded to Czechoslovakia's oppressive normalization period following the 1968 Soviet invasion. Her travels to Paris, Indonesia, and Cambodia in the late 1960s influenced her use of non-Western motifs and symbols. A major retrospective of her work was held at the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava in 2012. Growing up in an artistic family, she helped expand notions of art in Czechoslovakia through objects incorporating everyday items and unstable materials.