Horizontal Art History in Global Context: East Central Europe in the Present
In 2008, the Polish art historian Piotr Piotrowski published “On the Spatial Turn, or Horizontal Art History,” critiquing the marginalization of modern east-central Europe in art history. Since then, international scholarship on the art of, for example, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Poland or Czechoslovakia has expanded significantly; globalized horizons have also placed east-central Europe in new contexts that potentially break down intra-European boundaries that traditionally isolated the region and enable a redrawing of the art history map.
Yet, has the situation fundamentally improved? Has east-central Europe gained a more prominent place in university curricula? Many find hopes for change unmet. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 revealed persistent blind spots, with east-central Europe still little known and often viewed through a Moscow-centric lens. In addition, decolonial impulses mean that east-central Europe is increasingly deprioritized in favour of the global South. Recognition of the contingent status of geopolitical identities also raises the question as to what it even means to talk of “east central Europe” in a globalised geography of art.
This panel invites papers addressing the place of east-central Europe in contemporary global art history. Piotrowski’s essay was the product of a particular moment. Does it still have relevance, or has it been superseded by new concerns? Global histories of east central Europe have challenged older perspectives, but is it meaningful to proceed as if east central Europe were still a coherent zone of interest? Or do we, in doing so, fall back into a long tradition of east-central European exceptionalism?
Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:
Matthew Rampley, Masaryk University, Czech Republic, rampley@phil.muni.cz
Nóra Veszprémi, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, n.veszpremi@bham.ac.uk