In the 19th century, man challenged nature and for the most part triumphed over it. In our times, we seem to be in retreat. Where will nature strike us next? Is it our friend or foe? Two current exhibits in Prague and its surroundings look at nature, and, inadvertently, these questions, head-on.

Curated by Alberto di Stefano, "NATURalia" seems to be the most ambitious project ever by Futura Gallery. Nearly 30 artists are exhibiting in three locations with the uniting theme of how different views of nature have changed our perception of it — beginning with the sublime Land Art sculptures of the 1970s and on to contemporary, computer-manipulated landscape art and ecological agit-prop.

The major group of artists in "NATURalia" are from eastern France, with the support of the Fonds Regional d'Art Contemporain (FRACS), a cooperation of five regions: Alsace, Bourgogne, Champagne-Ardenne, Framche-Comté and Lorraine, under a collective umbrella called Collections Without Borders. After successful, thematically unique exhibits in four European cities, the French artists invited to Prague have contributed strong works spanning three decades, all related to nature.

The unusual sculptures of Hubert Duprat and Thomas Grunfeld could be housed in the rare collections of 16th-century Emperor Rudolf II. Duprat's North (from a series in 1997–98) is a large, exquisite stone made of many smaller amber stones glued together. In another untitled sculpture (from 1994) by Duprat, coral and breadcrumbs are intricately glued together to resemble exotic sea anemone or desert bush. Grunfeld's sly taxidermy piece from 1996, titled Misfit, is best left unexplained, so as not to spoil its most important element of surprise.

Another "shocker" is an innocent little rabbit in a corner, titled Diplomacy (1996), by Sigurdur Arni Sigurdsson. Nature still has the power to surprise us, and the most memorable pieces in Futura's section of "NATURalia" do not let us forget this.

The video Flowers Serial Killer by Pascal Bernier represents the chic eco-radical attitude popular in France that is seldom seen in Czech society. One can imagine the indignant feelings of viewers in Paris: How can we be so cruel to poor, innocent nature? Nearby photographs that capture the stunning beauty of nature — Low Horizon 2 (2000) and Very Low Horizon 3 (2000) by Elina Brotherus — help the cause of Flowers Serial Killer immensely.

Appropriately, the French artists stress cooperation with local art communities, so "NATURalia" includes some well-known Czechs. The site-specific collaboration Landscape Painting and Beyond, by Bertrand Lavier with Tomáš Vaněk, on display in the café of the French Institute, is pure success. However, at Třebešice, David Černý's Carwash (2001) is a minor and half-hearted gesture compared with Gloria Friedman's stunning installation The Representatives (1992), made of stuffed stag, wood and leaves, in the same room.

A warning to those interested in visiting Třebešice Castle (by appointment only): In mid-winter, a visit to Třebešice, located near Kutná Hora, can offer an unpleasant firsthand encounter with nature. This reviewer not only waited more than an hour in the snow for a train due to weekend schedules, but missed a large outdoor installation that needed to be dismantled ahead of schedule due to the harsh weather. For those who make the trip, however, this is where some of the best works are exhibited, most notably by David Renaud, the artist-in-residence for this show.

The brutal side of nature is keenly portrayed in a singly exhibited painting by Julius Payer titled Starvation Cove, currently showing at Veletržní palác. Payer's painting impressively captures the grim end of a famous expedition led by the English polar explorer John Franklin in 1845. Payer's detail of the explorer's frostbitten crew just steps from the sea and with a boat in tow is more appreciated after learning that Payer himself was an experienced polar explorer, who, just a few years previous to Franklin's tragic end, had narrowly escaped death in an expedition that led to the founding of Franz Josef Land, an Austrian colony of icebergs in the Arctic North.

Starvation Cove was purchased by the Modern Gallery for a 1908 exhibition at the Rudolfinum, organized to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the rule of Emperor Franz Joseph I. But immediately after this, it was rolled up and stored away for more than 50 years.