The residency stays and visits in Mallorca within 2017 - 2022 I devoted to research about Bohemian - Majorcan connections, discovering local stories, which keep making me think about the local families, our common European roots and society issues within.  It is still on-going.

"Ancient olive trees witness quietly life stories happening in their shadows.

These oldest trees in Europe are symbols of stability, of our predecessors dating back to ancient Greece. Symbols of fertility of long centuries. Their beauty was admired and strongly protected by the Archduke Louis Salvador, who was settled in his chateau in the Czech town called Brandys nad Labem.

He was the passionate traveller, scientist, writer and the artist too. Mallorca was his beloved place and his second home. Between those same olive trees Pilar Montaner de Sureda, forgotten “painter without face”, painted all her life. Though she had fourteen children, her legacy is preserved only by three granddaughters without any descendants. Pilar Montaner was connecting many well-known artists, hosted them in her home, was admired by them, still her name is not found in any art encyclopedies. Was she daring to be too independent and creative as a woman in the men’s world? The Archduke Louis Salvador devoted his time to various activities and projects in the area around Valldemossa and met several times with this extraordinary woman He was the one, who discovered Mallorca for tourism and enriched European culture by his vast knowledge and research about this beautiful island. These are still the same olive trees, which the Archduke protected, Pilar Montaner painted all her life and I am capturing their faces, emotions and relationships, discovering life stories happening in their shadows. Olive trees last for centuries. Human lives are very short, so impermanent. And some families do not have a future."