The Autonomy of Art between Cultural Politics and Politics of Identity

Abstract

In his paper, the author’s intent is to respond to the following questions: “Were selfmanaging, socialist Yugoslavia and the Socialist Republic of Slovenia within it Eastern European states/cultures?” And: “In what way did the Irwin group carry out an artistic, curatorial, and theoretical re-articulation of contemporary Slovenian art as an Eastern European art under the conditions of globalization?” The article first examines the theoretical problem of cultural and political relations – the rises and the crises – between SFR Yugoslavia, the Soviet Union, and the USA. The structures of cultural and artistic relations established during the Cold War that underwent changes in the global transitional revolution in 1989 are of interest as well. As a case study, the project “Embassy in Moscow” (1992) by NSK and Irwin is presented. In the conclusion, the article raises the question of the position of Eastern Europe as a cultural space following the fall of the Berlin Wall. Methodologically, the article is based on the metaphorical use of the notion of “cognitive mapping”.