Symposium

Reise(un)freiheit – Mobilitäten von Künstler*innen während des Kalten Krieges

The strict border controls in the GDR hindered the mobility of artists as well. Nevertheless, they were able to apply for trips abroad for a wide variety of purposes, for example as part of cultural policy projects, to accompany exhibitions or for study trips. Likewise, international artists traveled to the GDR. Memories of such trips are still alive today and can be traced in interviews and archive documents such as travel applications, reports and travel diaries. Particularly works of art also testify to the personal experiences and impressions of stays abroad. However, many artists were denied the right to travel and it was not uncommon for art to become a means of protest against the restrictions. The symposium is dedicated to the tensions surrounding the (lack of) freedom to travel. Topics include the political circumstances and personal motivations for traveling abroad, imagined and realized journeys and their impact on art. How were journeys individually organized and how were restrictions occasionally circumvented? What is the relationship between an art history of (non-)travel during the Cold War and the much-discussed topos of the "artist's journey"? What methodological approaches are available for an examination of the topic? The symposium will address these questions in lectures, a lecture performance and exhibition tours.

Conference languages: German and English
Place: Albertinum, Lichthof, Georg-Treu-Platz 1, 01067 Dresden
Date: 30. an 31. of May 2024
Registration: free registration by mail to until 20.05.24

Informationen zum Programm