Eastern European Art Criticism's Resistance to Western Critical Theory After 1989

Edit András, a Hungarian art historian, delivered a keynote lecture at the AICA conference "Strategies of Power" in Zagreb, Croatia, on 1 October 2001. She examined the persistent divide between Eastern European art criticism and new Western critical theory emerging after 1989. András argued that Eastern European modernism, shaped by a politicized avant-garde under state socialism, developed a dissident identity that now resists postmodern theories. This resistance stems from modernism's moral capital as oppositional art and suspicion toward theories like feminism, postcolonialism, and gender studies, viewed as irrelevant due to different sociohistorical contexts. Western curators often dismiss Eastern European art as "second hand," while Eastern critics perceive new theory as cultural imperialism. The region's art criticism remains tied to modernist paradigms, rejecting the multiplicity of voices and deconstruction of grand narratives central to Western poststructuralist thought. András cited conferences like "Art History, Aesthetics, Visual Studies" at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, NY, on 4-5 May 2001, and referenced scholars like Keith Moxey, Anna Szemere, and Serge Guilbaut. She noted that Eastern Europe's experience differs from colonized regions, facing schizophrenia of belonging within Western paradigms. The dialogue requires Eastern Europe to deconstruct mental walls and the West to show openness to divergent voices.