Marie Lukáčová: Middevil – Maiden Wars, 2022, 9 min

The first film in WINDOW’s inaugural edition is Marie Lukáčová’s Middevil – Maiden Wars (2022), a playful and provocative reimagining of a legendary women’s uprising. The film was made in collaboration with curator Piotr Sikora for the 2022 edition of the Biennale Matter of Art in Prague.

On view: 20 June – 15 July

Marie Lukáčová’s experimental film takes us back to the 12th century, to the period of the so-called Maiden’s War, as described in the Chronica Boemorum by Cosmas of Prague (1119–1125), the first Latin chronicle of the history of the Czech lands. The story became widely known during the 19th-century Czech National Revival, and the artist is interested in what we can learn from this event and how it might relate to contemporary struggles against the oppression of women and patriarchy.

Combining animation and live action, and featuring pop songs, the short film also resembles a peculiar music video. It introduces an episode from the lives of the followers of Princess Libuše, a mythical prophetess and the founding mother of Prague.

The film depicts the difficult period following her death, when the so-called Maiden’s War took place: a legendary uprising led by her former chambermaid, Vlasta, in which women rebelled against the patriarchal rule of Prince Přemysl, Libuše’s husband. The conflict escalated after the princess’s death. According to the chronicle, the women built their fortress, Děvín Castle, opposite the men’s stronghold of Vyšehrad. Although the women warriors won several battles, they were ultimately defeated.

Lukáčová is particularly interested in this brief moment when a group of women united in response to persistent abuse and oppression, marking the beginning of the Maiden’s War. The film portrays the formation of their sisterhood and emphasizes feminist determination. We see the women deciding to rebel while a strange entity appears, gifting them “a specific object, an artifact, an uncanny limb that holds a secret. While attached to one’s body, it allows one to fight primal fear and possess natural forces instead of being dependent on them,” as the artist explains.

With the help of this magical “tail,” the women achieve their first victories, and we can imagine how the battles unfold. As a result, they become hybrid beings who live in harmony with nature and gain the ability to shapeshift, tricking and defeating men.

While inspired by medieval stories and aesthetics, Lukáčová also employs humor. For example, a scene in which the women prepare for battle by licking a bloody knife recalls the aesthetics of a 1990s revenge film.

Combining Slavic mythology, medieval history, speculative world-building, and magical scenarios, Marie Lukáčová’s moving-image work can be seen as the first chapter in an exploration of historical feminist forms of resistance.