Beyond Friendships: Regional Cultural Transfer in the Art of the 1970s

Central European Research Institute for Art History, building C.
Budapest 1135, Szabolcs u. 33-35.

Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfieyMZVys0T7b_N-mPv94SCnv_GtXnBefK7rPOroGhXyQiYQ/viewform

The conference is dedicated to the memory and work of László Beke.

The conference Beyond Friendships: Regional Cultural Transfer in The Art of the 1970s organized by the Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI) - Artpool Art Research Center, Budapest, investigates the concept of cultural transfer and its relevance for the transnational art histories of Central-East Europe. KEMKI, which includes "Central Europe" in its name, includes archives of both underground and state-run institutions—which were part of different but overlapping international networks—considers it its responsibility to open a transnational discourse on current and yet to be developed approaches to regional art histories. As a reflection on this extraordinary constellation, the conference will approach cultural transfer as a process that transcends the familiar dichotomy of official/non-official. The conference will also reflect on Hungary’s special situation in the region, a status complicated by historical conflicts, transborder minorities, and linguistic isolation.

The program is composed of five sections that investigate different scales of transfers and translations. The first panel, "Theories of Translation and Transfer" will examine how the concept of cultural transfer and translation may be applied to write art histories transcending the boundaries of national cultures, and what specificities, cultural differences or epistemologies can constitute joint histories of the former "friendly" states of Eastern Europe. In the second section, "Interpersonal Friendships and Dialogues," speakers will present actual cross-border friendships as micro-sites for cultural transfer and translation. The last section of the first day, "Hubs of Transfer," will discuss unique, multi-ethnic, interdisciplinary and collaborative milieus, in-between zones that facilitated transfers between different languages, ideological discourses, and localities. On the second day of the conference, panel 4, titled "Agents, Vectors, Mediators," will focus on transnational protagonists who imported, exported, and translated various artistic concepts between different languages and localities, and as such, also negotiated transnational interpretations of East European art. Finally, in the section "Institutions of Friendship," speakers will highlight the role art galleries, institutions, and international exhibitions played in connecting and confronting various local idioms of art.

PROGRAM

MAY 11 WEDNESDAY

10:00 - 10:20 Dávid Fehér: Welcome and Introduction

10:20 - 11:30 Theories of Translation and Transfer
- Boris Buden: More than Transfer, More than an Area – Translation of Art Histories
- Tomasz Załuski: Informal Networks in Alternative Official Galleries in Poland and the Concept of Video Art as a Cultural Transfer
- Jelena Vesić: The Splinters of Cultural Contacts in the Search for a Narrative

11:30 - 12:00 Discussion

- Break -

13:00 - 14:10 Interpersonal Friendships and Dialogues
- Alina Șerban: In and Out of the Box: Leaps in East/East Dialogues
- Aneta Zahradnik: Jiří Valoch and Heinz Gappmayr: Artists in Exchange across Political Borders
- Radek Przedpełski: "Chain of Individual Initiations": Rhizomatic Cultural Transfers Marek Konieczny / Klaus Groh

14:10 - 14:40 Discussion

- Break -

15:10 - 16:20 Hubs of Transfer
- Emese Kürti: Bosch+Bosch: Minority Cultures as Hubs of Cultural Transfers
- Daniel Grúň: Visual music as a field of cultural transfer in the 1970s
- Magdalena Radomska: Poznań: International Art Workers Cooperative

16:20 - 17:00 Discussion

17:00 - 18:00 Artpool Art Research Center Visit

MAY 12 THURSDAY

10:00 - 11:35 Agents, Vectors, Mediators
- Hana Buddeus-Pavlína Morganová: A Direct Communicator of Information In and Out: Petr Štembera in the 1970s
- Tomáš Glanc: Chalupecký’s Role in the Artistic Networks of Central and Eastern Europe
- Zsuzsa László: Dictionaries of Friendship: László Beke’s East-European Project and Agency in Cultural Transfer and Translation
- Andrea Bátorová: The Paradigm of Ostkunst in the Works of Tomáš Štrauss

11:35 - 12:10 Discussion

- Break -

13:10 - 14:45 Institutions of Friendship
- Cristian Nae: Exhibitions as Vectors of Cultural Transfer: The Curious Cases of "Humanist Realism" and "Contextual Art" in Romania during the 1970s
- Zuzana Bartošová: The Example of Sándor Pinczehelyi
- Natalia Słaboń: Between Program Policy and Cultural Diplomacy – The Activity of the Muzeum Sztuki in Łódź in the 1970s.
- Małgorzata Misniakiewicz: Connections, Contacts and Conflict – Mail Art in Poland in 1975

14:45 - 15:45 Discussion

Further information: https://resonances.artpool.hu/conferences/2