[spectre] ANN: Confrontations: Sessions in East European Art History, 2019-2020

[Andreas Broeckmann]

From: Maja and Reuben Fowkes <fowkes at translocal.org>
Date: Oct 16, 2018
Subject: ANN: Confrontations: Sessions in East European Art History, 
2019-2020

University College London
Deadline: Nov 9, 2018

The Post-socialist Art Centre (PACT) at the Institute of Advanced 
Studies UCL, with support from the Getty Foundation’s Connecting Art 
Histories initiative, is launching a new research project entitled 
Confrontations: Sessions in East European Art History. Early and 
mid-career scholars are encouraged to apply to participate in four 
meetings to be held in Ljubljana/Zagreb, Prague/Bratislava, London/Paris 
and Warsaw/Łódź over 2019-20.

Led by Dr Maja Fowkes and Dr Reuben Fowkes, the project investigates the 
entangled histories of East European art through a series of itinerant 
symposia held at pertinent locations across and beyond the region. By 
staging encounters between contrasting aesthetic and critical positions 
and creating conditions for comparative insights to crystallise, these 
sessions aim to instigate more rigorous and integrated accounts of East 
European art history. Acknowledging the singularity of individual 
practices, the multi-directional flow of artistic exchange and the 
generative effects of local circumstances, this transnational initiative 
is a contribution to an emergent global history of art from the Second 
World War till today.

The title of the project refers to the series of Confrontations 
exhibitions held in Czechoslovakia in the years around 1960 and again in 
the spirit of post-modernist revival during the mid-1980s. While the 
original studio exhibitions were a means for young artists to challenge 
the dominance of socialist realism and figurative art by embracing the 
international style of art informel, those held at the end of the 
socialist period were organised in aesthetic opposition to the ethos of 
the dissident neo-avant-garde. What these two moments of contestation 
had in common was a willingness to challenge established artistic 
paradigms, a critical attitude to dominant institutions and a boldly 
experimental character. They also correspond chronologically to the two 
art historical periods with which this research project is primarily 
concerned.

Each of the four sessions is conceived as a week-long gathering with a 
core group of participants who will engage in seminar discussions, give 
presentations of their research, as well as take part in a programme of 
visits to relevant sites such as museums, galleries, artist studios or 
specialist archives. The topics of each meeting will be devised to draw 
on the strengths of local collections and points of primary art 
historical interest in the specific cities in which they are held. Each 
participant is expected to actively participate in discussions and give 
two research papers over the course of the project. Travel and 
accommodation expenses will be covered. Participants must commit to 
attending all four meetings for the full duration.

Applications are particularly sought from post-doctoral researchers and 
early career scholars from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe 
inclusive of the Baltic States and the Balkans, as well as from those 
who study the art history of the region from further afield. While 
researchers specialised in any aspect of post-war East European art 
history are encouraged to apply, we are keen to recruit participants 
with an interest in engaging with under-researched topics including 
socialist realism, art informel, neo-constructivism and pop art, as well 
as the post-avant-garde, post-modern and alternative art currents of the 
1980s.

To apply, please submit a single word or pdf document with:

1) Your name, email address, institutional affiliation, and postal address.

2) An applicant statement (approximately two pages)

This should state what you would bring to the programme, the nature of 
your current work and involvement with East European art history, and 
what you believe you could gain through your participation in the 
Confrontations project.

3) A short CV
This should consist of a two-page CV, including a selection of your most 
relevant publications or research projects.

For enquiries, please contact Maja Fowkes or Reuben Fowkes by email 
fowkes at translocal.org

Please email the documents specified above as a single document to 
confrontations at translocal.org by Friday 9 November 2018.

Selection of the participants will be made based on the recommendations 
of the project team comprising Dr Maja Fowkes (PACT UCL), Dr Reuben 
Fowkes (PACT UCL), Dr Pavlina Morganová (Academy of Fine Arts in 
Prague), Dr Tomasz Załuski (Institute of Contemporary Culture, 
University of Łódź) and Alina Șerban (art historian and curator, Bucharest).

We aim to notify applicants of the outcomes by the end of November.


Reference / Quellennachweis:
ANN: Confrontations: Sessions in East European Art History, 2019-2020. 
In: ArtHist.net, Oct 16, 2018. <https://arthist.net/archive/19259>.