Walsall Council is delighted to announce the opening of Mothers without Hands, a major new exhibition by internationally acclaimed Czech-born artist Tereza Bušková at The New Art Gallery Walsall. Opening 31 July 2026 and running until15 November 2026.
Tereza Bušková, known for her public projects that bring together multi-national folk traditions and diverse local groups, will present a new exhibition at The New Art Gallery Walsall titled Mothers without Hands.
The exhibition will include headdresses, ceremonial crowns and costumes co-created with women in England and Czechia through collective making and baking workshops alongside a major video work encompassing footage of participatory processional performances and new photographic prints by the artist. It will also feature site-specific soap drawings inspired by the practice of soap painting on windows in Moravia, Czechia.
“ We are delighted to welcome Tereza Bušková and Mothers without Hands to The New Art Gallery Walsall. It reflects our commitment to bringing high-quality contemporary art to Walsall and providing opportunities for residents and visitors to engage with inspiring and thought-provoking cultural experiences. “
“ I would like to empower women who have experienced or are experiencing sexual and domestic violence, this kind of abuse and the invisibility and stigma attached are things that need to be talked about more. My aim with Mothers without Hands is to offer support and a form of protection through collective making and sharing.”
The exhibition takes its title from The Girl Without Hands, a 1200-year-old fairy tale collected and revised by the Brothers Grimm. Featuring a girl whose hands are cut off and magically restored, it is a story not only about patriarchal oppression, persecution, violation and trauma, but also survival, strength and healing.
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The project is inspired by an ancient Czech custom known as Ježíškovy matičky, which coincides with the Easter holidays. Both a religious and pagan ceremony traditionally led by two ‘Madonnas’ who carry a sculpture of Christ on the cross, Beloved Mothers of Christ celebrates the abundance of new life that comes with spring. It is also said to have been employed both as a form of protest and a means of protection by local women who had been raped by the men they worked for and their apprentices in nearby villages. Bušková’s reinterpretation of this uniquely Moravian ritual sees Christ replaced by a Sklenovska Matička (Beloved Mother), an intricately braided figure made from leaven dough symbolising womanhood and motherhood and a recurring motif that centres women and girls at the heart the exhibition.
Mothers without Hands is curated by Dr Nicola Baird and presents the culmination of a long-term international project initiated and developed by Bušková involving diverse communities in Folkestone, Prague, Brno, Erdington and Walsall who were empowered through creative workshops and public processions aimed at raising awareness of violence against women and girls.
“ It has been a privilege to curate this exhibition, the culmination of what has been an ambitious, inclusive, international and multidisciplinary project which has involved a whole range of creatives as well as collective making within communities and public processional performances. The result is an incredibly emotive experience and a true testament to strength in solidarity. “
A celebration event of the exhibition will be held Saturday 19 September, 2-4pm. Admission is free. The event will also involve a protective sand pouring performance by Bušková inspired by nineteenth century Polish preparations for religious feasts and Pre-Christian Slavic springtime customs.
Book via Eventbrite Mothers without Hands – Celebration event
For more information about Mothers Without Hands and other exhibitions at The New Art Gallery Walsall, visit The New Art Gallery Walsall.
