Global and forgotten connections: the circulation of the visual arts between socialist European countries and Asia, Latin America, and Africa during the Cold War.
I am pleased to be participating in the conference organized by Zachęta – National Gallery of Art, which invites contributions on the history and continuity of artistic relations between Eastern Bloc countries and regions including Asia, Latin America, and Africa. My presentation focuses on the work of Marcos Kurtycz, a Polish-born artist who migrated to Mexico in 1968, and whose radical performances and graphic actions forged a unique dialogue between Eastern European conceptualism and Latin American countercultural art. The conference draws inspiration from the legacy of the Central Bureau of Art Exhibitions, an institution housed in the Zachęta building that, from 1949 until the fall of the Eastern Bloc, coordinated the circulation of visual art as part of Cold War cultural policy. This historical network included exchanges with countries such as China, Vietnam, India, Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, and Egypt, among others—offering a rich backdrop for rethinking transcultural artistic trajectories like that of Kurtycz.