‘Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective’ at Nová synagóga in Žilina

Nová synagóga in Žilina presents the exhibition Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective curated by Tomáš Glanc, Daniel Grúň and Sabine Hänsgen. The exhibition brings together more than forty artists, poets and creative groups from the countries of the former Eastern Europe as well as contemporary artistic positions. The exhibition will be opened on December 22nd from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. by a series of several performances and will run until March 10th 2018.

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

In the second half of the twentieth century, poets and artists in particular took up the challenge of reflecting on and investigating the instrumentalization of language for communicative and political-ideological purposes. They did so by drawing attention to the “made-ness” of language, its material and medial dimension, and by creating performative situations for themselves and their audiences within which possibilities of verbal expression could be tested and acted out. In Eastern Europe, poetry and performance played a significant role in the unofficial or partially tolerated cultural scene.

The writing practice of samizdat and its relation to the devices of concrete and visual poetry have been treated and presented in a number of previous projects. Until now however, less consideration has been given to the circumstances of performance. In addition to the typescript literature of samizdat, subcultural milieus attached particular importance to the oral recitation of poems, exhibitions, and poetry actions. The interrelation between text and situation in poetic acts functioned as a trigger for performances and happenings.

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective, Nová synagóga in Žilina, exhibition view. Photo © Peter Snadik

The exhibition presents authors from subcultures in socialist states along with contemporary positions that continue the legacy of combining poetry and performance. It shows the efforts of poets and artists to break free from controlled language and normative communicative now and then. Poetry & Performance. The Eastern European Perspective thus confronts the current social challenges in the post-socialist countries through the prism of language and ideology and looks back at their points of departure.