Klara Kemp-Welch Knihy

Throughout the 1970s, a network of artists emerged to bridge the East-West divide and the divides within the Eastern bloc. Originating from initiatives by artists, art historians, and critics in cities like Budapest, Poznań, and Prague, this experimental dialogue included Western participation but is largely forgotten today. Klara Kemp-Welch vividly recaptures this lost chapter of art history, documenting a web of artistic connectivity formed through personal encounters, pioneering dialogues, collaborative projects, and cultural exchanges. Countering the conventional Cold War narrative of isolation, Kemp-Welch illustrates how artistic ideas were shared among like-minded artists across ideological and national boundaries. Much of the created work was collaborative, with personal encounters at its core. Utilizing archival documents and interviews, she emphasizes the exchanges and projects rather than individual personalities. The exploration begins with the network's mobilization from 1964 to 1972, highlighting five pioneering cases, including a friendship between a Slovak artist and a French critic. She then charts way stations for experimental art from 1972 to 1976, examining points of distribution among studios, homes, and galleries. Finally, she investigates shared exhibitions and events in the late 1970s across cities from Prague to Milan to Moscow, inviting a rethinking of late Cold War art from Eastern European perspectiv

Art historians have often categorized late-socialist Central European art as either 'totalitarian' or 'transitional.' This book challenges that perspective, arguing that artists from this era cannot be simply labeled as dissident heroes or easily integrated into the Western formalist canon. Klara Kemp-Welch presents a compelling narrative on how artists in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary engaged in alternative forms of action-based practice, paralleling the development of dissident political models, particularly an 'antipolitics' rooted in societal self-organization. She advocates for recognizing the moral and political coherence of Central European art, theory, and activism during the late-socialist period, emphasizing the region's significance in late-20th-century intellectual and cultural history. This insightful work is crucial for those seeking a deeper understanding of the art and culture of 'other' Europe in the latter half of the twentieth century, which has been overlooked due to Cold War biases. It also appeals to readers interested in the adaptive strategies of artistic opposition. The book is noted for its illuminating and thorough writing, making it essential reading in the field.