Performing art history: continuities of Romanian art practices in post-communist performance

In the present essay Eastern European art before, but also after, 1989 is considered as influential for international art practices dominated by Western European and American paradigms. The approach the author implements, situates post-communist art in a global art world without neglecting its site-specific context. This case study of Romanian performance art, Alexandra Pirici’s and Manuel Pelmus’ project An Immaterial Retrospective of the Venice Biennale realized at the Romanian pavilion in 2013, questioned euro-centrist and national power structures in the history of the Venice Biennale. The two artists’ site-specific project re-evaluated strategies of institutional critique and challenged the hegemony of the global canon as well as pointed to gaps in the art historical narrative. Photography in its archival structure works as the performances’ starting point rather than its documentation and becomes part of a concept of self-historization which merged with the contemporary artistic language of performance and supported the artists’ recognition at the international art context of the Biennale. The political implications of the body’s presence and activism are broadened by considering a specific notion of individuality that opposes the socialist understanding of the national collective body. This particular post-communist art project revealed the continuity of Eastern European art practices across the Iron Curtain going beyond temporal and local containment.