Curator Bojana Pejic Reflects on 'After the Wall' Exhibition and the Problem of Context in Post-Communist Art
Bojana Pejic, the chief curator for 'After the Wall – Art and Culture in post-Communist Europe,' elaborates on the exhibition's development and audience response. The event took place at Moderna Museet in Stockholm from October 16, 1999, to January 16, 2000, before moving to Museum Ludwig in Budapest and Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin during 2000-2001. Celebrating the ten-year milestone since the Berlin Wall's fall on November 11, 1989, the exhibition showcased 127 pieces by 140 artists from 21 post-Communist nations and the former GDR. Curated into thematic categories like 'Social Sculpture' and 'Genderscapes,' Pejic critiques the Western art scene's emphasis on context, highlighting art's independent significance. The project required significant travel across 23 post-Socialist countries.
Key facts
- The exhibition 'After the Wall' was held at Moderna Museet Stockholm from October 16, 1999, to January 16, 2000.
- It featured about 127 works by 140 artists from 21 post-Communist countries and the former GDR.
- The exhibition traveled to Museum Ludwig in Budapest and Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin in 2000-2001.
- Bojana Pejic served as chief curator, invited by David Elliott in 1997.
- The exhibition marked the ten-year anniversary of the Berlin Wall's fall on November 11, 1989.
- A sound installation by Lutz Becker used archival recordings from the Wall's destruction.
- Thematic sections included 'Social Sculpture,' 'Re-inventing the Past,' 'Questioning Subjectivity,' and 'Genderscapes.'
- Pejic critiques the Western art world's focus on 'context' for non-Western art, arguing artworks transcend their circumstances.
Entities
Artists
- Bojana Pejic
- David Elliott
- Lutz Becker
- Ilya Kabakov
- Sanja Ivekovic
- Boris Michailov
- Zbignev Libera
- Frank Thiel
- Erchart Miklosh
- Dominic Hislop
- Josif Kiraly
- Nedko Solakov
- Arsen Savadov
- Oleksndr Kharchenko
- Audrius Novickas
- Dragoljub Rasa Todosijevic
- Giedrius Kumetaitis
- Mindaugas Ratavicius
- Tomasz Kizny
- Galina Moskaleva
- Nebojsa Seric-Soba
- Kriszta Nagy
- Tatyana Antoshina
- Jiri Cernicky
- Joseph Beuys
- Boris Groys
- Laura Hoptman
- Iris Muller-Westerman
Institutions
- Moderna Museet
- Museum Ludwig
- Hamburger Bahnhof
- ARTMargins Online
- Artforum
- art press international
- Siksi
- neue bildende kunst
- zitty
- New Moment
- Sender Freies Berlin
- University of Belgrade
- Museum of Modern Art, New York
Locations
- Stockholm
- Sweden
- Budapest
- Hungary
- Berlin
- Germany
- Belgrade
- Serbia
- New York
- United States
- London
- United Kingdom
- Potsdamer Platz
- Invalidenstrasse
- Checkpoint Charlie
- Brandenburg Gate
- Chicago
- Zurich
- Switzerland
- California
- Poland
- Ukraine
- Bulgaria
- Lithuania
- FR Yugoslavia
- Slovenia
- Romania
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Croatia
- Russia
- Czeck Republic
- Belarus
- Armenia