Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.17685/Peristil.62.10
Political Disputes and the Attack on the Art Informel Abstraction in Jugoslavia in 1962-63
Vesna Kruljac
orcid.org/0000-0003-2863-4382
; Faculty of Applied Arts, University of Arts in Belgrade
Abstract
The campaign against Abstraction in 1962-63 represents one of the most dramatic attempts at political arbitrage and reaffirmation of dogmatism in the history of Yugoslav art. Contemporary sources suggest that the main target of those attacks was – Art Informel. Therefore, the essential questions this article seeks to discuss are the following: who, when and why was involved in the dispute over Art Informel, contributing to the escalation of the conflict. By keeping track of the events, coincidences and parallels, it was concluded that the campaign against Art Informel was a strategically planned and synchronized action of the Yugoslav political and cultural establishment, conducted according to the scenario of political intervention in Soviet culture, which immediately preceded it. Although short-lived
and with no drastic consequences, this campaign in Yugoslavia resulted
in an obstruction of the developmental path, dulling the critical blade, as well as marginalizing the Art Informel abstraction on the institutional map of meanings.
Keywords
Art Informel; Modern painting; cultural policy; dispute; Yugoslavia; 20th century
Hrčak ID:
239562
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2020.
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