[spectre] STIP: Understanding 1989 in East-Central European Art

[Andreas Broeckmann]

From: Magdalena Radomska
Date: Nov 5, 2022
Subject: STIP: Understanding 1989 in East-Central European Art

Piotr Piotrowski Center for Research on East-Central European Art, Adam 
Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, Sarajevo, Bucharest, Jan 1, 
2023–Sep 30, 2024
Application deadline: Nov 30, 2022

Understanding 1989 in East-Central European Art. War vs. Revolution.

The project led by the Piotr Piotrowski Center for Research on 
East-Central European Art at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and 
supported by the Getty Foundation as part of its Connecting Art 
Histories initiative, consists of a series of four one-week seminars - 
in Sarajevo, in Bucharest, a virtual one via Zoom, and in Poznań.

Team: Magdalena Radomska & Edit András (project leads), Caterina Preda, 
Boris Buden

Description:
The aim of the project is to create a platform for exchange of different 
narratives on the art produced as a result of the chain of events that 
unfolded in 1989 and in the following years (the fall of the socialist 
system in Europe, the end of the Cold War, the dissolution of Yugoslavia 
and the collapse of the Soviet Union, followed by the transition to 
democracy and capitalism/market economy. Usually, the study of these 
phenomena is restricted to national contexts, languages, and 
geographical borders. The approaching 35th anniversary of 1989 and the 
30th commemoration of the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia offers an 
opportunity to overcome these limitations in favour of a comparative 
narrative that focuses on both similarities and differences of the 
process of political, economic, and social transition in Eastern Europe, 
and East-Central European art. Thus, the project aims to create an 
international space for debate between established and emerging scholars 
and researchers, in order to overcome the limitations of knowledge 
circulation, language differences, and varied research opportunities. So 
far, there has been no such narrative that cuts across national 
divisions and creates a platform to discuss post-communist and 
transitional experiences of these countries and their meaning in the 
present.

Understanding 1989 is crucial for understanding the contemporary 
situation in the region and more broadly - in Europe. Conservative 
governments in East-Central Europe have appropriated both events and 
narratives of 1989 for the sake of their own nationalistic, symbolic 
capital and in order to legitimise their own indispensability. At the 
same time, contemporary artists in this part of Europe investigate the 
political, economic and social changes, and the role of 1989 and its 
initial revolutionary potential, as well as confront the question of 
what went wrong.

The ideological appropriation of 1989 as national liberation and 
restoration of national sovereignty has led to the proliferation of 
ethnic conflicts in the former communist East and finally to the return 
of the spectre of war to the political scene of modern Europe.

The project Understanding 1989 in East- Central European Art. War vs. 
Revolution aims at approaching these tendencies in the contemporary art 
of the region as a peculiar re-appropriation of 1989, which - when 
understood as a revolution - creates the possibility to transgress 
national divisions and lay bare the common historical experience of this 
part of Europe. It is in this context that the notion of revolution, 
which has been totally ostracised by the discourse of the post-communist 
transition, as a political instrument of the totalitarian rule, deserves 
renewed attention, especially after the world financial crisis of 2008 
that overlapped with the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism in 
Europe. The growing awareness of inequalities and the need to seek other 
solutions to the problems than those offered by conservative 
nationalism, provoked the visible reaction to reevaluate the communist 
and Marxist ideological background, as well as the criticism of 
capitalism in this part of Europe. This approach attempts to trace back 
the political and cultural process that marginalised topics related to 
class division, poverty, and other aspects of social and economic injustice.

Structure: The structure behind the four seminars is conceived to 
interconnect the two notions of 1989 as war, and as revolution with two 
initial seminars in Sarajevo (war) and Bucharest (revolution) that will 
focus on their seemingly obvious connotations. They will offer 
contemporary interpretations to both notions. The Zoom seminar will 
focus on those transformations that occurred without war and without 
revolution (Hungary and Poland) or via non-violent revolution (“Velvet 
Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, the “Singing Revolution” in Baltics, 
“Orange Revolution” in Ukraine, the “Rose Revolution” in Georgia, the 
“Twitter Revolution in Moldova”, etc.)

The last seminar in Poznan will be focusing on the consequences of the 
failed revolutions and the recent war between Russian and Ukraine) as 
well as a revolution perceived as labour that transforms both class and 
economic divisions of the post- communist societies (Poznań). Hence, the 
essential role of the Latin American context for its similarity, with 
recent artworks created in post- communist Europe. The notion of the 
revolution generally adopted for 1989 will get a new frame, which makes 
it possible to break through the national isolationism of individual 
countries in the region and to reach its shared historical and cultural 
past connected with left-wing ideas and historical background.

Who are we looking for: We have 15 places for applicants. The target of 
the seminar is both Ph.D. students and emerging scholars ( in 
exceptional cases Master!s students) from East-Central Europe (in 
exceptional cases from other parts of the world), with a deep interest 
in the art of the region and the intention to continue research on the 
subjects discussed during the seminars and/or if the subject of their 
research is of particular relevance for the project. We will honour the 
diversity of the professional backgrounds of the group, and we will give 
priority to those who can prove their engagement to the subject. Once 
selected, the applicants are expected to take part actively in the whole 
series of seminars and read the literature on which the discussions will 
be based. Travel, accommodation, and meals will be arranged and covered 
by the organisers.

How to apply: Please submit
1.A bio
2. A list of conferences and academic papers, publications, projects, etc.
3. A letter of intent (describing why you wish to participate, what your 
professional insight on the topic is, in which way your previous 
activity is relevant to the seminar, how you think you could benefit 
from the seminar, and how it could be part of your future work)
4. One letter of reference from a scholar acquainted with your work

Please send these documents to the email address: 
piotrpiotrowskicenter at amu.edu.pl with the title “1989” by 30 November 2022.
We will respond to your applications by 20 December 2022.

Reference / Quellennachweis:
STIP: Understanding 1989 in East-Central European Art. In: ArtHist.net, 
Nov 5, 2022. <https://arthist.net/archive/37859>.

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