Marina Gržinić on Necropolitics and the Cleansing of Art History in Eastern Europe
In a 2012 conversation with Maja and Reuben Fowkes for ARTMargins Online, philosopher and artist Marina Gržinić addresses the transition from biopolitics to necropolitics within modern capitalism and its ramifications for art. Serving as a research director at the Institute of Philosophy in Ljubljana and a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Gržinić labels the European Union a 'fortress of racism' and points to an 'ethnic cleansing' of Slovenia's art history, referencing the erasure at the Škuc Gallery. She criticizes the Former West project for misrepresenting Eastern European history and expresses disapproval of Documenta 13. Gržinić highlights that the West selectively appropriates Eastern European conceptual art when it is stripped of its political context. This discussion occurred in Budapest during her lecture at the Ludwig Museum.
Key facts
- Marina Gržinić is a philosopher, artist, and research director at the Institute of Philosophy in Ljubljana.
- She is also a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
- The interview was conducted by Maja and Reuben Fowkes in Budapest in 2012.
- Gržinić gave a lecture at the Ludwig Museum titled 'A Passion for History in the Depoliticized and Castrated European Union Regime.'
- She argues that global capitalism conceals the difference between center and margin.
- She describes a shift from biopolitics to necropolitics, the regulation of death for profit.
- She cites the cleansing of history at Škuc Gallery in Ljubljana as an example of racist necropolitics.
- She criticizes the Former West project and Documenta 13 for fictionalizing history and depoliticizing art.
Entities
Artists
- Marina Gržinić
- Maja Fowkes
- Reuben Fowkes
- Slavoj Žižek
- IRWIN
- Laibach
Institutions
- Institute of Philosophy at the Scientific and Research Center of the Slovenian Academy of Science and Art
- Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
- Ludwig Museum
- Škuc Gallery
- Former West
- Documenta 13
- Banff Centre
- ARTMargins Online
- Műértő
Locations
- Ljubljana
- Slovenia
- Vienna
- Austria
- Budapest
- Hungary
- Kassel
- Banff
- Canada
- London
- Europe
- Eastern Europe
- Western Europe