Unblocking the Blocs. Intertwined Art Practices in Divided Europe (1956-1972)

The book outlines a compared mapping of art practices in divided Europe during the Cold War within a polycentric area, including the two German republics, Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union and Italy. Seven artists and art professionals selected from the mentioned countries will serve as “players”, as narrative clusters and crucial case studies for the given project, in order to highlight the productive outcomes of the cultural Cold War and its role as a catalyst of artistic practice and critical discourse in divided Europe. In this framework, art practices are analyzed not in "spite of" or "regardless of" the cultural Cold War, but precisely because of it.