14:00
april
23
During the 20th century, the unfolding careers of many Eastern European artists were cut short as a result of the WW2 and many of those who survived by 1950s found themselves as refugees in North America, Israel and elsewhere in Europe after the War. Tragically, stories like that continue to date, with most recently and urgently in the case of contemporary artists from Ukraine.
This discussion accounts for the uprooted, displaced, and resettled Latvian, Ukrainian, and Jewish artists originally from Eastern Europe of the 20th century and of today. The impact of these artists’ (in some cases unfolding) migrations, escapes, and artistic transformations will be superimposed on the history of modern art and the unfolding histories of contemporary art practices.
The question that we want to ask is what is the impact of these displacements, resettlements, and immigrations on the process of forming the global art history as well as the process of shaping national art historical narratives. Many refugee and immigrant artists both in the 20th century and today do not easily fit the national art histories of the countries they were displaced from. Some of them found (currently find) it difficult to assimilate into the competitive and hostile local/national art scenes of their newly adopted countries. Some artists have been misattributed and misidentified and their national belonging has been (or is being) questioned/disputed either because of the shifting national borders, changing political ideologies or because of their national, religious, ethnic, or racial identity.
This discussion accounts for the uprooted, displaced, and resettled Latvian, Ukrainian, and Jewish artists originally from Eastern Europe of the 20th century and of today. The impact of these artists’ (in some cases unfolding) migrations, escapes, and artistic transformations will be superimposed on the history of modern art and the unfolding histories of contemporary art practices.
The question that we want to ask is what is the impact of these displacements, resettlements, and immigrations on the process of forming the global art history as well as the process of shaping national art historical narratives. Many refugee and immigrant artists both in the 20th century and today do not easily fit the national art histories of the countries they were displaced from. Some of them found (currently find) it difficult to assimilate into the competitive and hostile local/national art scenes of their newly adopted countries. Some artists have been misattributed and misidentified and their national belonging has been (or is being) questioned/disputed either because of the shifting national borders, changing political ideologies or because of their national, religious, ethnic, or racial identity.
Discussion about Jewish, Latvian, and Ukrainian refugee and diaspora artists. Participants include Andra Silapētere, Inga Lāce, Nikita Kadan, Nikolay Karabinovych, Konstantin Akinsha, Maria Veits, Yevgeniy Fiks and others.
Latvian pavilion, ARSENALE
Map of refugee modernism(s)
