MoMA symposium and publication on art of Eastern Europe excludes Ukraine (03/09/03)

MoMA symposium and publication on art of Eastern Europe excludes Ukraine

by Ika Koznarska Casanova

NEW YORK - The Museum of Modern Art in New York has organized a symposium titled "East of Art: Transformations in Eastern Europe," exploring the region's historical, political, and artistic contexts.

Presented by the MoMA's international program and the department of education, the symposium takes place on March 11 in conjunction with the museum's recently published "Primary Documents: A Sourcebook for Eastern and Central European Art Since the 1950s." The work serves as an introduction for English-speaking readers to the region's major artistic and critical movements of the latter half of the 20th century.

Moderated by co-editors Laura Hoptman and Tomas Pospiszyl, symposium panelists include Boris Groys, Katarzyna Kozyra, Bojana Pejic and Slavoy Zizek - cultural historians and artists whose writings appear in the book.

With is emphasis on primary source material, the publication brings together an array of texts and manifestos by artists and critics, as well as poems, lectures, photo essays and interviews in English translation.

The result of a three-year collaborative editorial effort in consultation with curators, scholars, and artists, the book incorporates materials from the majority of post-Communist European countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as Russia. Excluded are Ukraine, along with, as noted by a MoMA representative, Belarus, Moldova, Albania and East Germany.

The omission of Ukraine is all the more glaring and acute given that in the introduction to "Primary Sources" the co-editors state that the overriding reason for publishing these essays and texts was to provide a much-needed context for the English-speaking readers to comprehend and appreciate the art of the period in question, which evolved under specific historical and political conditions. To this end, the book provides translations of "original historical documentation, primary source materials for serious academic research on the subject of Eastern European visual culture."

According to the editors, "the criteria for inclusion were straightforward: we chose landmark texts that labeled movements, challenged received ideas, and changed the way art was made and thought about by influential writers respected in their communities and nationally."

When the question was raised as to the reason for Ukraine's omission from the list of countries under consideration in the publication, given its status as one of the largest post-Communist countries with an indigenous artistic tradition and vibrant cultural presence, Joanna Raczkiewicz, assistant to the director of the International Program at MoMA, noted "The publication was not meant to be a comprehensive or encyclopedic account of the art production of the period; rather, it was intended to introduce to an English-speaking audience the context, and pivotal ideas that shaped art in this region. Because of this, and because of the circumstances of the collaboration, some countries were unintentionally omitted (such as the [sic] Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Albania, East Germany)."

A response from the co-editors was not received by the time The Weekly went to press.

The symposium will be held on Tuesday, March 11, at the MoMA Gramercy Theater, 127 E. 23rd St. (at Lexington Avenue), at 6:30 p.m.

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Symposium admission: $7; MoMA members $5; students with current ID, $3. Tickets are available at the MoMA QNS Lobby Ticketing Desk, 33rd Street at Queens Boulevard, and at The MoMA Design Stores, 44 W. 53rd St. and 81 Spring St., Manhattan. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door on the evening of the program. Tickets may be used as same-value vouchers when purchasing the publication at the event. For information call (212) 708-9476 or e-mail [email protected].

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