[spectre] (fwd) CFP: Artistic contacts after WW II in Central Europe (Kalisz, 18-19 Oct 2019)

[Andreas Broeckmann]

From: PD Dr. Beate Störtkuhl <beate.stoertkuhl at bkge.uni-oldenburg.de>
Date: Jun 24, 2018
Subject: CFP: Artistic contacts after WW II in Central Europe (Kalisz, 
18-19 Oct 2019)

Kalisz, The Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts - Adam Mickiewicz 
University, October 18 - 19, 2019
Deadline: Nov 15, 2018

Conference: Artistic contacts between political blocs after World War II 
in Central Europe: visual arts, power, cultural propaganda

Conference Programme Assumptions

The resolutions of the Yalta Conference left the part of Europe that was 
geographically closer to the Soviet Union under the control of Kremlin’s 
politics. The „Big Brother’s” oversight stretched over Poland in its new 
borders, East Germany (GDR), Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania, 
Hungary, Bulgaria and Albania. This traumatic political change led to 
far-reaching economic, social and cultural transformations. Years later, 
Piotr Piotrowski, in his now classic work „In the Shadow of Yalta: Art 
and the Avant-garde in Eastern Europe” asked, as if defiantly: is there, 
in fact, such a thing as Eastern Europe? Is it something real or just a 
phantasmagoric projection? Does its culture function as something 
‘other’ than European culture? Certainly, Eastern Europe has been a 
political construction which in part contains the contours of the 
historically determined Central Europe, and its tradition is vital to 
this discussion [about art]. For this scholar, „the work of art is not 
approached as an autonomous aesthetic form, but rather as a dynamic 
structure involved in various relations of power, social processes, and 
political tensions of the post-war years. (id., Meanings of Modernism). 
Who is then the author whose work’s structure reveals „ various 
relations of power”? Is he writing his own biography, or is it an 
outcome of social mechanisms and political processes that utilise art as 
a tool for its own purposes, and are his works of art actually artefacts 
designed to serve politicians? Is the biography of an artist in 
East-Central Europe of the post-war era „swept away by the great 
history” and does the author become a hostage of his own creation? Is it 
possible to evaluate his heritage without reading into the political 
context and political ties? The artistic biography of Tadeusz 
Kulisiewicz (1899-1988), a draughtsman and graphic artist born in 
Kalisz, presents a tremendous opportunity for scientific exploration of 
these complex issues.

In the year 1988, Tadeusz Kulisiewicz dies, aged nearly 90, having lived 
half a century in the reality of the socialist state. Undoubtedly, his 
heritage places him among the classics of Polish draughtsmanship and 
graphic arts of the 20th century. The positive evaluation of the 
artistic quality of Kulisiewicz’s work, with the exception of the series 
created clearly as a commission for political purposes („Bojownicy o 
wolność i demokrację” [„Fighters for freedom and democracy”], 1951) does 
not in any way alter the fact that he was a beneficiary of a system that 
promoted „socialist culture approachable for the masses” and, at the 
same time, excluded the creators who did not share the enthusiasm for 
„the builders of people’s Poland”. What does this double heritage amount 
to today: a national treasure or a burden, a cause for criticism or 
pride, or perhaps a call to extend more care towards the processes that 
govern culture today?

The „case” of Tadeusz Kulisiewicz is not an isolated one. The joint 
history of East-Central Europe, the countries under the influence of the 
Soviet Union, brings to mind a multitude of artists who, for years, 
balanced the tension between receiving recognition and maintaining 
faithfulness to self. Museums, galleries and private collections all 
house works which constitute this (un)embarrassing heritage. The natural 
passage of time probably softens our perception of the choices made by 
these top authors of the past years, even though political change – 
constantly transforming the world, and that including the balance of 
power in Europe – demands repeated re-evaluation of the content and the 
artistic and scientific value of the received heritage.

During the international Conference –  which we would like to invite you 
to attend in Kalisz on 18-19th October 2019 – we want to engage in a 
closer examination of the strategies used to promote artists in the 
political systems of the countries of East-Central Europe under the 
control of the Soviet Union in the post-war period. Unconventionally, we 
encourage you to take a look into their sketchbooks, personal notes, 
itineraries – both inspired by their subjective choices and by the 
agendas imposed by politicians. What we find especially interesting is 
the issue of international contacts and the role of artists in the 
international politics of the Cold War era (East-West contacts, but also 
North-South contacts, including transcontinental travels). We are 
interested in the strategies involved in artistic choices, forms, 
traditions, politicisation of art and indoctrination of artists, as well 
as the „export” of creators as a part of cultural politics.

We are not imposing strict time boundaries as far as the subjects of the 
presentations are concerned, apart from indicating a general time frame 
as suggested by the term of East-Central Europe after 1945. We are 
interested in the development, persistence and transformations of the 
suggested issues up to the 1990’s.

The key issues of the proposed programme include:

-    Artists’ choices in the time of totalitarisation and ideological 
oppression. Ways and strategies of “protection” of artistic freedom in 
the face of politicisation: relations with the state authorities, 
actors, negotiation; the influence of politics on the direction of 
artistic creation, feigning compliance or criticism of political systems 
by artists and the consequences of their actions.
-    Transatlantic travels, new and old contacts, changing maps. 
Journeys of the artists from the Eastern bloc – to the west, across the 
ocean and transfers in the opposite direction. The contexts and the 
political goals of these travels, means of politicisation of artistic 
exchange and contacts. How did the routes of artistic journeys and their 
destinations change after 1945, compared to the artistic travels in the 
art tradition of the inter-war period? Transatlanticity: contacts of the 
artists from the Polish People’s Republic and other countries of the 
Eastern bloc with the states supportive of the USSR or maintaining 
neutrality in the East-West contention.
-    Reception of art and approaches to art criticism. What, where and 
why was considered valuable, what kinds of artists were esteemed, 
invited or promoted in neighbouring countries or internationally? What 
was the aim of these decisions and choices?
-    Places and ways of meeting beyond the political curtains. 
Biennales, triennials – what kinds and where? What was participation 
like, who organised exhibitions of „socialist art” and where? How did 
Bureaus of Artistic Exhibitions and other institutions of this type 
promote the „art of the brother states” and „progressive traditions” 
outside the socialist countries?
-    Political education, ideological transfer. What sorts of parties or 
groups strived to impose participation in the state’s cultural politics 
on artists and in what ways? Responses towards such actions and the 
effects in the area of art brought about by the penetration of the field 
by the mechanisms of police states after 1945. The outcome of artists’ 
participation in politics or the effects of politicisation of art on 
transborder contacts and on the routes of artistic travels, on the 
destinations selected and on the traditions and the modes of perception 
of history of art and its role.
-    Journals. Personal or other people’s stories concerning artistic 
journeys and their political role, but also about the routes of travel, 
the experiences involved or the role of travelling in the development of 
one’s artistic creativity. Confrontation of personal reflections/notes 
with the texts written by the historians of art. -    Omissions and 
exclusions. How is the history of art of the countries of the former 
Eastern bloc changing after 1945 and after the break-up of the Cold War 
blocs? What sorts of subjects and artists are being „hushed” in 
monographs, synthetical and cross-sectional studies? How do art 
historians handle the political burdens and the ideologisation of art 
and artists such as Kulisiewicz? What does this message teach us about 
the present?

PROPOSAL GUIDELINES:

We invite you to send proposals for 20-minute papers – please fill in 
the enclosed form with a 250-word abstract and a brief curriculum vitae, 
including mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address and affiliation.

Proposals may be submitted by email or post by 15th November, 2018.
  Symposium languages: Polish, English or German (bilingual abstracts 
are to be included)

By email:
Conference Secretary Ewa Kowalczyk-Wiśniewska,
kaliszconference2019 at gmail.com
Please note that the proposals may be e-mailed or sent by post - e-mail 
submission is preferred (DOC, DOCX files).

By post:
Kaliskie Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Nauk
ul. Bankowa 9
62-800 Kalisz
POLAND
Please place a note on the envelope: „Kalisz Conference 2019”.

CONFERENCE TIMELINE AND DETAILS

The accepted papers will be selected competitively on the basis of the 
proposed abstracts by the Organisers and the Scientific Committee.

The Organisers will notify the Authors about the decisions concerning 
their submissions by 31st January, 2019.

The symposium volume will be prepared in 2020, based on the full 
versions of papers and discussions.
During the Conference, a guided, conversational tour through Kalisz 
interwar old town will be organised by the Art & Culture Studies Section 
of The Kalisz Society of Friends of Arts and Sciences.

Active participation in the symposium will require a fee of 250 PLN. The 
fee will cover the costs of preparation and printing of the conference 
materials, including the Kalisz 2019 Conference Guidebook and the costs 
of coffee breaks, lunches and the Thursday’s Evening Reception for all 
participants. Organisers will help arrange cheap and comfortable 
accommodation for the participants, located in the academic hotel of the 
UAM campus in Kalisz. Official platform of the event: 
http://kaliszconference2019.wordpress.com/

On behalf of the Organizers
Anna Tabaka, KTPN, District Muzeum in Kalisz (MOZK) Makary Górzyński, 
KTPN, University of Warsaw

Conference Secreatry:
Ewa Kowalczyk-Wiśniewska, KTPN
kaliszconference2019 at gmail.com

Reference / Quellennachweis:
CFP: Artistic contacts after WW II in Central Europe (Kalisz, 18-19 Oct 
2019). In: ArtHist.net, Jun 24, 2018. <https://arthist.net/archive/18477>.

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