Description
Book SynopsisThis volume focuses on political and social expressions in contemporary art of Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. It explores the transformations that art in Ukraine and the Baltic states has undergone since their independence in 1991, discussing how the conflicts and challenges of the last three decades have impacted the reconsideration of identity and fostered resistance of culture against economic and political crises. It analyzes connections between the past and the present as seen by the artists in these countries and looks at their visions of the future. Contemporary Ukrainian art portrays various perspectives, addressing issues from controversial historical topics to the present military conflict in the East of the country. Baltic art speaks out against the erasure of past historical traumas and analyzes the pertinence of its cultural scene to the European community. The contributions in this collection open a discussion of whether there is a single paradigm that describes the contemporary processes of art production in Ukraine and the Baltic countries. With contributions by Ieva Astahovska, Svitlana Biedarieva, Kateryna Botanova, Olena Martynyuk, Vytautas Michelkevičius, Lina Michelkevičė, Margaret Tali, and Jessica Zychowicz.
Table of ContentsIntroduction; Mapping Transformations in Latvian and Baltic Art; The Documentary Turn in New Ukrainian Art; Artist as a Virus: Political Transformations and Art in Ukraine after 1991; Apocalyptic Perestroika and the Birth of the Ukrainian Contemporary Art; Artists Rewriting Art History through Artistic Research and Collecting in Lithuania: From Pavilion to Museum to Cemetery; Working with Difficult Histories to Reimagine the Future: Revisiting the Meanings of Memory and Identity in Baltic Art; A New Dawn at the Centennial of Suffragism: Artistic Representation in Trans-European and Transatlantic Kyiv; Contributors.
