With the fall of the Iron curtain in 1989, concrete political, social and economic changes began in formerly socialist countries. The conference was thus dedicated to the arts and aesthetics in circumstances that occurred with the transition into the late capitalism. It touched the specifics of culture, arts and aesthetics in the European region that is formally understood as the first world, but due to cultural differences and economic specifics this first world is perhaps still treated as the second world. The colloquium touched the artistic production and aesthetics in non-European countries that transitioned into late capitalism, the relations between the modern times and the past of other cultures; the question how arts and aesthetics mark the transition into late capitalism and how they are defined by their own cultural tradition.

In some socialist countries, culture occupied a special place in social sphere; arts was one of the rare environments where it was possible to express the ideological disagreement. Modern times of the late capitalism dictate new relations between the capital and the arts; directing all creativity to creative economy. What does this mean for the arts that has the function of social engagement and thrives to contribute critical commentary or interventions? What are the new relations between arts and politics, and arts and ideology? How are culture, arts and aesthetics in post-transition circumstances influenced by the culture of the first world? How to define the modern art and aesthetics; where are the limits or their definition (referring to the globalised world and the actual technologies); or in how far does it make sense to define production in post-transition circumstances? What is the reception and the place of the artistic production and aesthetics, distributed from post-transition circumstances?

Colloquium program

Thursday, October 20

9.45 – 10.00 opening
10.00 – 10.35 Miško Šuvaković, “Art and Aesthetics under Post-Transition: Grey Zones Now and Here” 10.35 – 11.10 Aleš Erjavec, “Art and Recent Politics of Representation in Eastern Europe”
11.10 – 11.30 Coffee break
11.30 – 12.05 Nikola Dedić, “Art After Postsocialist Transition”
12.05 – 12.40 Creston Davis, “Iron the Curtain and Other Aesthetic Myths”
12.40 – 14.30 Lunch Break
14.30 – 15.05 Andreja Hribernik, “Museums and the Political”
15.05 – 16.40 Darko Štrajn, “Transition in the Balkans’ Cinematography”
16.40 – 17.15 Jan Babnik, “The Photographic Return to the Real. And the Real Being Rather Impatient” 17.15 –17.35 Coffee break
17.35 – 18.10 Irena Plešivčnik, “Creative industries and sustainable paradigm”
18.10–18.45 Petra Bole, “Art Jewellery under Post-Transition”

Friday, October 21

10.00–10.35 Polona Tratnik, “Becoming (m)Other – Maja Smrekar’s Biopolitical Manifesto”
10.35–11.10 Bojana Matejić, “Humanitarianism vs. Dehumanization of Art in the Post-Socialist Spaces of Culture”
11.10–11.30 Coffee Break
11.30–12.05 Sebastjan Leban, “Radical Critical Politics/Aesthetics”
12.05–12.40 Lev Kreft, “Squaring the Circle: Troubles with Artivism”
12.40–14.30 Lunch Break
14.30–15.05 Mojca Puncer, “The Case of Participatory Art in Slovenia Under Post-Transition”
15.05–16.40 Tomaž Toporišič, “Post-Transition and the Consequences of the Performative Revolution” 16.40–17.15 Kaja Kraner, “Production of Contemporary Art: Between Cultural Policy and Production of (the Effects of) Truth”
17.15–17.35 Coffee Break
17.35–18.10 Gita Zadnikar, “Aesthetics, Art and Movements of Resistance”
18.10–18.45 Pia Brezavšček, Alja Lobnik, “What Becomes of Art After Future Ends? The Example of Rog Factory”
18.45–19.00 Closure