Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe: A Critical Anthology (MoMA Primary Documents)

Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe: A Critical Anthology (MoMA Primary Documents)

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the ripple effects felt over the following years from Bucharest to Prague to Moscow demarcate a significant moment when artists were able to publicly reassess their histories and question the opposition between the former East and the former West. Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe takes the pivotal political changes between 1989 and 1991 as its departure point to reflect on the effects that communism's disintegration across Central and Eastern Europe—including the Soviet Union's fifteen republics—had on the art practices, criticism, and cultural production of the following decades. This book presents a selection of the period's key voices that have introduced recent critical perspectives. Particular attention is given to the research and viewpoints of a new generation of artists, scholars, and curators who have advanced fresh critical perspectives and who are rewriting their own histories. Their examination of artistic practices and systems of cultural production proposes distinct outlooks for acting in the contemporary world while simultaneously rethinking the significance of the socialist legacy on art today. Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe is an indispensable volume on modern and contemporary art and theory from the region. Contributors. Branislava Andjelković, Edit András, Inke Arns, Marius Babias, Zdenka Badovinac, Ivana Bago, Zbyněk Baladrán, Claire Bishop, Luchezar Boyadjiev, Andreas Broeckmann, Boris Buden, Ilya Budraitskis, Ondřej Chrobák, Keti Chukhrov, Kim Conaty, Cosmin Costinaş, Eda Čufer, Bojana Cvejić, Ekaterina Degot, Branislav Dimitrijević, Michelle Elligott, Octavian Esanu, Yevgeniy Fiks, Meghan Forbes, Maja Fowkes, Reuben Fowkes, Boris Groys, Daniel Grúň, Marina Gržinić, Vít Havránek, Jon Hendricks, IRWIN (Miran Mohar, Andrej Savski, Roman Uranjek, and Borut Vogelnik), Sanja Iveković, Ana Janevski, David Joselit, Tímea Junghaus, Klara Kemp-Welch, Juliet Kinchin, Zofia Kulik, Andres Kurg, Katalin Ladik, Václav Magid, Eva Majewska, David Maljković, Roxana Marcoci, Lina Michelkevičė, Aldo Milohnić, Viktor Misiano, Rastko Močnik, Magdalena Moskalewicz, Deimantas Narkevičius, Ksenia Nouril, Ewa Opałka, Martina Pachmanová, Bojana Pejić, Dan Perjovschi, Nataša Petrešin-Bachelez, Piotr Piotrowski, Bojana Piškur, David Platzker, Paulina Pobocha, Tomáš Pospiszyl, Lýdia Pribišová, Oleksiy Radynski, Karol Radziszewski, Christian Rattemeyer, Cristina Ricupero, Georg Schöllhammer, David Senior, Alina Șerban, Slavs and Tatars, Sven Spieker, Tamas St.Auby, Zuzana Štefková, Jakub Stejskal, Mladen Stilinović, subREAL, Tomás Svoboda, Ovidiu Ṯichindeleanu, Margarita Tupitsyn, Gediminas Urbonas, Nomeda Urbonas, Jonas Valatkevičius, Jelena Vesić, Dmitry Vilensky, Raluca Voinea, What, How & for Whom (Ivet Ćurlin, Ana Dević, Nataša Ilić, and Sabina Sabolović), Igor Zabel, Artur Żmijewski   " Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe helps navigate the post-socialist art scene from the current perspective of local art figures. . . . The publication effectively opens a due discussion not only about art of Central and Eastern Europe, but also compellingly includes it in a conversation about the world at large." -- Adéla Janícková ― Hyperallergic "The result of several years of sustained research and documentation by a team of MoMA curators, along with local critics and artists, this book is the most substantial and authoritative survey of current and recent art in a huge region of Europe. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals." -- P. A. Stirton ― Choice "Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe consists of a great range of essays discussing many essential topics related to the region, including curatorial practice of the former Eastern bloc, democracy and the New Europe, art and politics and debates around art’s relevance in society." -- Denisa Tomkova ― H-SHERA, H-Net Reviews "This book is the successful product of MoMA’s larger mission to rethink the modernist canon in terms of new ‘cross-cultural frameworks of connectivity.' What results is a picture of post-socialist art as more diverse than monolithic, more collaborative than individualistic, and more about dialogue between peripheries than emulation of the center." -- Milena Tomic ― Slavonic and East European Review " Art and Theory of Post-1989 Central and Eastern Europe is an invaluable source for anyone with an interest not only in contemporary Eastern European art but also those concerned with post-communist analysis or the rethinking of the Western-centric cultural canon. At the same time, it also leaves us with questions for the future, not only with regards to the region but also Europe as a whole. And, in an age of rising nationalism, it urges us to ask what role art can, and should, play today." -- Joanna Mardal ― Junctions Ana Janevski is Curator in the Department of Media and Pe