What Can the Perspective of Borderlands Internationalism Offer Art Historians?

National frameworks and containers are often too narrow to fully grasp the complexities of social, historical, and artistic development. What, then, should replace methodological nationalism—multiculturalism, internationalism, or something else entirely? These questions are particularly pressing when viewed from the perspective of Eastern Europe, a region historically shaped by its position at the crossroads of Eastern and Western imperial powers, and where universalist claims have often been difficult to articulate.

In this lecture, Joseph Grim Feinberg will present his current research on forms of borderlands internationalism that have emerged in Eastern European history, responding to the region’s imperialisms and nationalisms. With a particular emphasis on the cultural dimensions of these forms of internationalism, he will ask how this framework can open new directions for art historical inquiry and offer insights into the transnational dynamics that shape cultural production in contested regions.

The presentation will be followed by a discussion with Kristóf Nagy (KEMKI), and an open Q&A session.

Joseph Grim Feinberg is a Prague-based anthropologist and philosopher, with a focus on East-Central European history and culture. His work frequently explores the intersections of political theory, cultural performance, and post-socialist transformations. His publications include The Paradox of Authenticity: Folklore Performance in Post-Communist Slovakia (University of Wisconsin Press, 2018); the co-edited volume Karel Kosík and the Dialectics of the Concrete (with Ivan Landa and Jan Mervart; Brill, 2022); and the commented English translation of Karel Teige’s Marketplace of Art (trans. Greg Evans, co-edited with Sezgin Boynik; Rab-Rab and Contradictions, 2022).

In 2023, he published the widely discussed essay “Coloniality or Imperiality (in Eastern Europe, for Example),” which is closely linked to his current research project on borderland internationalism: https://dversia.net/7940/coloniality-imperiality-eng.

Graphic design: Imre Kiss

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