22. Beyond Imperial Gazes: Postcolonialisms across Post-Soviet Art Histories

“Are You Postcolonial?” In 2005 Gayatri Spivak provocatively posed that question to teachers of “Slavic and Eastern European literatures.” Two decades later, the question feels as relevant as ever for anyone studying post-Soviet cultures of the Baltics, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and East Europe, along with Indigenous and other non-hegemonic cultures within the Russian Federation. Shaped by various forms of imperial rule, these distinct geopolitical and transcultural formations have all experienced Russian and/or Soviet colonialism and cultural hegemony. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has lent new urgency to studying existing epistemological gaps and structural inequalities, prompting significant methodological interventions in the field of art history within the national context of Ukraine (Biedarieva 2025; Demchenko 2024; Denysova 2022). Yet, postcolonial approaches to art-historical narratives and methods are limited across other post-Soviet spaces (with important exceptions such as Abykayeva-Tiesenhausen 2016; Tlostanova 2018; Michalska and Zboralska, 2026) and remain particularly lacking in comparative and cross-cultural perspectives.

. To understand the various historical conditions and current forms of postcolonialisms in post-Soviet art histories across the former Russian/Soviet regions, this panel invites contributions that engage with urgent methodological questions in comparative, regional, or local contexts, such as: What challenges arise from the differing histories of Russification? To what extent are decolonial, pluricentric, and horizontal art histories possible when various forms of epistemological violence, from Russocentrism to Eurocentrism and self-colonialism continue to shape knowledge production? We are especially keen to explore how imperial legacies persist in art historical narratives, for instance through the continued dominance of the Russian language, gatekeeping at key archives located in Russian metropolitan centres, as well as political repression, censorship, and safety concerns confronting scholars challenging Russian dominance.

Themes: Postcolonialism, post-Soviet, critical methodology

Lead Convenor: Adrienn Kácsor, The Courtauld Institute of Art, United Kingdom

Co-convenors: Mira Kozhanova, University of Bamberg, Germany

To submit a Paper to this Session, please follow the guidance on our website and complete the AAH 2027 Call for Papers Proposal Submission Form.