Second conference of Baltic art historians
(UN)BLOCKED MEMORY: WRITING ART HISTORY IN BALTIC COUNTRIES
Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas,
14th–15th October 2011
According to French philosopher Paul Ricoeur, the narrative of history is essentially
selective; it ‘remembers’ certain events of the past and ‘forgets’ others. Yet ‘forgotten’
or ‘blocked’ memories do not disappear; they settle in the collective unconscious
and influence the society’s life from there. The international conference (Un)blocked
Memory: Writing Art History in Baltic Countries will focus on research into the arts
in three Baltic countries: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and will offer to look at them
through the lens of the problem of memory. During the last several decades, art
history has been seriously affected by the ideas of critical historiography; it has been
influenced by such new disciplines as culture studies, memory studies, postcolonial
studies, etc. encouraging a critical rethinking of art history as an objective narrative
about the past. Such self-reflectivity of art history in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia –
countries that have experienced Soviet occupation – refers not only to the ideas of
Western theories, but also to the live historical experience. The rewriting of history,
the blocking and liberation of collective memory constantly accompanied the change
of political regimes in the twentieth century. In the post-Soviet era, these processes
also affect art historical discourse as well as curatorial and museum practices.
The participants of the conference will discuss the history of art as a (re)construction
of the past influenced by political, economic and ideological factors and by collective
memory and imaginary. The conference will consider the construction of the national
canons of art history and its change, new challenges in making national narratives,
various practices of remembering and blocking memories in art historical texts and
museum practices. The aim of the conference is to bring Baltic art historians together
and to provide an opportunity to discuss current processes and problems of writing
art history in the regional context.
The conference is a continuation of the series of conferences of Baltic art historians,
which were initiated by the Estonian Academy of Art together with the Estonian
Association of Art Historians in 2009.
Friday, 14 October
11.00-11.20 Welcome speeches
Opening session
(Re)writing History: Ideologies and Interpretations
Moderator: Ginta Gerharde-Upeniece
11.20-11.40 Giedrė Mickūnaitė (Vilnius Academy of Arts), Past Things, Present Texts: Medieval Art and Its Histories (A Lithuanian Example)
11.40-12.00 Aija Brasliņa (Latvian National Museum of Art), Niklāvs Strunke in the Shifting Paradigms of Latvian Art and Art History
12.00-12.20 Anu Allas (Freie Universität Berlin), An Unexpected Loss: Writing Art History between Parentheses
12.20-12.50 Discussion
13.00-15.00 Lunch break
Afternoon session
Rethinking the Discipline: Theories, Concepts, Methods
Moderator: Agnė Narušytė
15.00-15.20 Linara Dovydaitytė (Vytautas Magnus University), Art History and Post-Colonialism: A Lithuanian Case
15.20-15.40 Maija Rudovska (Latvian Academy of Arts), Expired Monuments: the Case Studies of Latvian Soviet Time Architecture
15.40-16.00 Discussion
16.00-16.30 Coffee break
16.30-16.50 Simona Matuzevičiūtė (Vilnius Academy of Arts), Micro-History without Macro-Context: Burials and Memorial Culture of the 19th c. Manors in Lithuania
16.50-17.10 Maria-Kristiina Soomre (Estonian Academy of Arts; Kumu Art
Museum), Art, Politics and Exhibitions. (Re)writing the History of (Re)presentations
17.10-17.30 Renata Šukaitytė (Lithuanian Institute for Culture Research; Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre), The Drift along a Traumatic Past in The Cinematic Worlds of Šarūnas Bartas
17.30-18.00 Discussion
Saturday, 15 October
Morning session I
(De)constructing the Canon: Heroes, Myths, Alternative Stories
Moderator: Linara Dovydaitytė
10.00-10.20 Dace Lamberga (Latvian National Museum of Art), The History of Latvian Classical Modernism
10.20-10.40 Tomas Pabedinskas (Vytautas Magnus University), Lithuanian School of Photography: The Birth of the Myth and Forgotten Alternatives
10.40-11.00 Discussion
11.00-11.30 Coffee break
Morning session II
Possessing the Past: Art History and Competing Discourses
Moderator: Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
11.30-11.50 Krista Kodres (Estonian Academy of Arts), Who’s Art History? Competing Art Historical Narratives in Estonia in 1930‘s and Their Afterlife
11.50-12.10 Kristiāna Ābele (Latvian Academy of Arts), The Picture of the Period 1890–1915 in Latvian Art Historical Writing: Ethnocentric Distortions and Ways to Correct Them
12.10-12.30 Iveta Derkusova (Latvian National Museum of Art), Interpretations of the Creative Work by Gustav Klucis (1895-1938) in Latvian Context and Beyond
12.30-13.00 Discussion
13.00-15.00 Lunch break
Afternoon session I
(Re)constructions: Art as Mnemonic Practices
Moderator: Krista Kodres
15.00-15.20 Agnė Narušytė (Vilnius Academy of Arts), Photographic Reconstructions of Memory 1988-2011
15.20-15.40 Lina Preišegalavičienė (Vytautas Magnus University), The Interaction of Memory and Interior in the Interwar Kaunas Living Space
15.40-16.00 Discussion
16.00-16.30 Coffee break
Afternoon session II
Facing Challenges: Global Culture and New National Narratives
Moderator: Kristiāna Ābele
16.30-16.50 Ginta Gerharde-Upeniece (Latvian National Museum of Art), The Continuity Aspect of Latvian Cultural Policy (1918-1940) in the Early 21st Century
16.50-17.10 Silvija Grosa (Latvian Academy of Arts), Rethinking National Romanticism in the Architecture of Riga at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries
17.10-17.30 Skaidra Trilupaitytė (Lithuanian Institute for Culture Research), On the Global Industry of Lithuanian Fluxus: the Story of Political Appropriation
17.30-18.00 Discussion