Papers by Liisa Kaljula
European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology, Jan 2, 2015
Reviews by Liisa Kaljula
What unites the small post-socialist countries of Estonia and Georgia in the year 2016? Why organ... more What unites the small post-socialist countries of Estonia and Georgia in the year 2016? Why organize an exhibition of contemporary Georgian art in Estonia a quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet Union? In the Baltics there are not that many exhibition spaces that would invest in East European contemporary art today, as the shared socialist past now seems somewhat distant, irrelevant and undesired in relation to the identity politics of these rapidly changing countries. However, when one looks at the acceptance of East European countries within the global art scene and art history, is this shared political history really so distant? Here, mutual support and solidarity would still mean a lot, even if in theory one now inhabits the postcolonial art world where the old geopolitical hierarchies supposedly no longer matter. In reality, many East European countries still struggle to build infrastructures for contemporary art, and to get their foot in the door of the global art world. These processes are now concurrently happening in Georgia and Estonia, but like many East European countries, they pursue these aims individually, without the shoulder of the other post-socialist countries to lean on.
Interviews by Liisa Kaljula
Conference Presentations by Liisa Kaljula
The vigorous remodernization initiated in the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev quickly lost i... more The vigorous remodernization initiated in the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev quickly lost its verve under his elderly successors. A great deal of the artistic responses to the termination of liberalization and modernization were resentful and escapist, be it central Moscow or peripheric Tallinn. In Estonia the entire generation of artists developed a highly aesthetic and socially unengaged approach deemed most ethical after the end of the Thaw. However, one of the pioneers of Estonian postmodern art, Raul Rajangu – either to settle accounts or become uncannily inspired – started to playfully appropriate Soviet modernity in his early collages called Soviet Midnight. In these the figures of Lenin and Khrushchev, along with Soviet New Year trees, elite Volga cars and desired household devices from the German Democratic Republic, were assembled into eclectic ensembles by the artist, ending up in a personified Soviet mythology similar to Russian sots art.
Thesis Chapters by Liisa Kaljula
Books by Liisa Kaljula
Boris Groys. Stalinismi totaalne kunstiteos. Tallinna Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2019
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Papers by Liisa Kaljula
Reviews by Liisa Kaljula
Interviews by Liisa Kaljula
Conference Presentations by Liisa Kaljula
Thesis Chapters by Liisa Kaljula
Books by Liisa Kaljula