Roles of the Visual in Overcoming Dictatorships

Conference
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, 9 Oct. 2008, 9-4

The conference (organised to mark the opening of the exhibition Overcoming Dictatorships, Aston Webb Building, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 9 Oct.-9 Nov. 2008) will explore the intersections of the visual arts in mediating the political, socio-economic and cultural changes in post-dictatorial societies and the impact of such changes on cultural production. It brings together a select group of speakers whose research explores aspects of overcoming totalitarian and authoritarian systems in different disciplines but with a focus on the visual arts (and an emphasis on the period since 1989).

Dr. Sue Malvern (University of Reading) will examine works by women artists in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia and their legacies of feminism and dissidence in post-Communist Europe, while Maja Fowkes (UCL) and Dr. Reuben Fowkes (Manchester Metropolitan University and initiators of SocialEast Forum) will explore the reluctance to deal with live political questions through the case of Hungarian artist Csaba Nemes, asking whether it reflects more the legacy of local (art) histories or the newly-adopted rules of a politically acquiescent international art system. Dr. Rose Whyman (University of Birmingham) will consider trends in counter-culture art since the 1990s in Russia and Prof. Brandon Taylor (University of Southampton) will discuss the artistic culture of the British monarchy in recent decades to locate the ‘Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie’. The concluding panel discussion will be chaired by Prof. Cillian Ryan (University of Birmingham).

The conference will be preceded by a round-table discussion with artists participating in the Overcoming Dictatorships exhibition (8 October 2008, 18.30, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham). Chaired by the off-site curator of the Ikon Gallery Helen Legg, it will focus on up and coming contemporary art groups in post-Communist countries and draw parallels with the situation immediately after 1989, when the former underground art replaced the official

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Harald Hauswald and the other face of the GDR

Life in the German Democratic Republic had two faces. One modeled and promoted by the government, and a second one, which many claim to be the real one. Information on the mood of the population and the general living conditions was classified top secret. If someone wanted to show what he deemed to call the real face of the country, s/he would suffer from libel and slander, discrimination and persecution.

One of those people was Harald Hauswald, who remained true to his artistic principles of depicting the country and its citizens in its actual condition. On his photographs people tend to look lonely and exhausted, cities appear grey and deserted. State authorities labeled him a provocateur and a public enemy because he did not refrain from publishing his pictures in West German journals like Stern, taz or GEO. In its operations State Security Service nicknamed him “Radfahrer” (Biker).

Taking Hauswald’s case as an example Marc Thümmler in his film “Radfahrer” tries to show us how the authorities tried to suppress dissenting voices and alternative perspectives. The film is also a retrospective demonstration of how deeply rooted Hauswald’s photography was in the reality of life in the GDR. Viewers are confronted with a sequence of photographs which is contrasted with Stasi files read from the off by Klaus Wiesinger. It is not only the obvious content which makes this film worth watching; some might recognize its remarkable quality to be understood as a parable on how different our perception and judgment of reality can be, according to which senses we rely on.

Shows:

10 May to 14 May at Tilsiter Lichtspiele (18:00)

1 August, 22 August at Free University Berlin (14:00)

13 September at Samariterkirche Berlin-Friedrichshain.

See a recent interpretation of Hauswald's oeuvre as part of "Ideological locations and dis-locations" (by Jutta Vinzent).

Present tensions. European writers on overcoming dictatorships

A literary anthology of the same title (eds. Kristina Kaiserová/Gert Röhrborn, Budapest:CEU Press 2008) will be presented at the Municipal Library in Trent, Italy on 9 May 2008, 17:30.

The volume is an intersection of literary works on the question of how dictatorships are overcome. The range of generations, European countries of origin and artistic directions that are represented serves both an advantage and a challenge reflected by this anthology. A considerable variety of motivations drove the participating poets and writers: such as putting into words a contemporary biography of persecution, the descendant’s feeling of personal historical responsibility, or the artistic curiosity of the “outsider”. The anthology is dedicated to the imaginative power of literature, and to Central Eastern and South Eastern Europe in particular. The formerly multicultural setting of these countries suffered the most from European dictatorships and their insufficiently processed legacies. The cultural transfer exhibited here will help reduce prejudices and promote new forms of understanding with Western Europe: it aims to further a diversified but common European culture.

The presentation will included readings by project writers Lutz Rathenow (Berlin), Gabriel Chifu (Bucharest) and Alessandro Tamburini (Trent). It is followed by an international conference on "Intellectuals and Dictatorship: A Comparative Perspective 1922-1990", organised by Prof. Gustavo Corni of Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e Sociali, Università di Trento on 10 May 2008, 09:00-18:00. For further information see the press coverage and the programme.

Organised with financial support of the European Commission and Università di Trento.

Lost in Transformation

„What is wrong with Ukraine then, a country which is seen as synonymous with a permanent crisis of state, chaos and a mutual blockage of political forces today?,“ Robert Baag has asked recently on German broadcasting station Deutschlandfunk.

Based on various field study trips in the country Wolfgang Templin, former guest of the project Overcoming Dictatorships, tried to give a conclusive answer to this eminent question during a public presentation of his book Farbenspiele – die Ukraine nach der Revolution in Orange (2nd amended edition, Osnabrück: fibre, 2008) at Herbert-Wehner-Bildungswerk in Dresden on 6 May 2008, 18:00. In his introduction political scientist Jakob Lempp (Dresden Technical University) informed the audience about the shortcomings of scientific monitoring of the country’s development. Lempp warned against the potential social and institutional pillarization of the political divisions that characterize the still ongoing transformation process. Jammed between the rocketing Baltic States and authoritarian rule in Belarus – and faced with blurry perspectives of EU accession at best – experts refrain from elaborated forecasts on the issue. Therefore Templin’s accounts are extremely welcome to add flesh to bones of analyses.

Templin started out from the neighbourhood perspective, too. The past and present of Poland and Russia is deeply intertwined with the country’s fate. Whereas Poland has apparently overcome its grief over the loss of Galicia and its centre Lemberg and developed into a devoted European ambassador for Ukraine, the relations to Russia still suffer from the latter’s imperial ambitions. Templin chose the well-known protagonists Viktor Yushchenko (President), Yulia Timoshenko (Prime Minister) and Viktor Yanukovych (ex-Premier) to present the diversity of biographies, economic interests and cultural amalgamations which were the results of the wild and early years of transformation.

Templin referred to the influence which numerous Ukrainian dissidents detained in the Soviet Gulag system had on later intellectuals and reformers. In his view a majority of creative artists see themselves as independent supporters of democratic reforms, although Yanukovych also embellished his election campaign with elements of pop culture. The general attitudes in the population are more important, but they are split between more conservative or progressive opinions as well. Yet Templin concluded rather optimistically: he believes the Majdan events of 2004/05 have shown that the people are no longer willing to accept ruthless exploitation by oligarchs and compliant government. The resignation with politics which may often be found among the younger generations might lead to the empowerment of civil society and thereby to the control of corrupt elites. Faced with the author’s dissident biography one could be tempted to hope that Templin has got it right a second time.

We are grateful to Herbert-Wehner-Bildungswerk for hosting and financially supporting the event.

Generation 68. Ein Roadmovie

2008 is a year full of potential for cultural entrepreneurs active in the field of collective remembrance. Seen from a European perspective it is the emblematic years of 1848, 1948 and 1968 which immediately present ample material for recollections both personal and official. German public TV channel 3Sat recently contributed to the discourse by broadcasting the film Generation 68. Ein Roadmovie, directed by Frank Diederichs (6 April 2008, 20:15). Diederichs portrays the life of writers and journalists, actors and directors, all people who had been politically and culturally active already back then or who were to be left with a lasting impression by the events of that ominous year. One of these is a participant of Overcoming Dictatorships, Lutz Rathenow.

Rathenow tells his personal experiences behind the specific German political background and the generally stirred-up atmosphere of the late 1960s. His recallings of a family holiday in Hungary can be taken as a literary description of the social and personal repercussions of contemporary German-German relations. Rathenow says:

In 1968, at the end of July and beginning of August I spent my vacation together with my parents and my sister at the Balaton Lake. For people from the GDR the atmosphere in Hungary felt much more western and generally relaxed: broadcasting stations had superior programmes, you could witness policemen consuming alcohol and Coca Cola was on offer. For people with western currencies it was even rather a fair deal. It was therefore a happy coincidence when my parents made the acquaintance of a couple from West Germany. On the beach they paid for beverages and we received small gifts. My parents accepted these well-meant complaisances gratefully. Me personally I didn’t think at all of being grateful, although I also benefited from the situation. These people from West Germany were not really arrogant; I did want to conceive them as arrogant.

As contingent as the course of life of an individual may be it is most likely that these experiences influenced Rathenow's personal development which subsequently advanced his literary and dissident activities. Check out more information by Jutta Vinzent on Rathenows artistic collaboration with photographer and project participant Harald Hauswald.