Dagmar Filípková is a painter, a theater actress, a cleaner and an art teacher. During the last decade, Filípková has written a collection of autobiographical (unpublished) books, attributed by her as diaries. In the diaries, she vividly describes memories from her childhood in the communist era. Her work offers a rare and crucial piece of unspoken history from the perspective of a woman labeled with a “mental disability”.

Filípková’s writing is remarkably honest. Through focusing on everyday details, she unfolds the story of her family. Each day starts with her father struggling to wake her up. Her mother is apparently attached to the TV screen. The bus seems to be unavoidably late. The school is under an endless reconstruction while a state committee occasionally meets to discuss whether or not Filípková is so-called educable. It is a surreal reality yet Filípková manages to fulfil it with humor and empathy.

Relationships and education are the most prominent themes of the diaries. Since Filípková has her own unique way to learn new things, she often finds herself outcast, punished or simply dismissed. As she pours one anecdote after the other, we are bound to question our formal as well as informal education and care systems.

The podcast Uneducable was published on the website of Institute of Anxiety and the four episodes are available here.
It was created within the project Artist Statement of Barvolam, a nonprofit organization supporting neurodivergent artists.

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Concept: Dagmar Filípková and Alma Lily Rayner
Written and read by Dagmar Filípková
Music and sound: Jonáš Richter

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For more info, please use the following links:

Nevzdělavatelná: četba na pokračování s Dášou Filípkovou (info v češtině)
Dagmar Filípková: Portfolio

Barvolam