Parallel Movements
February 15 and 21, 2004
Starting in the mid-1960s, artists in the major cities on the other side of the Iron Curtain and in Tito's Yugoslavia began developing new strategies for their work. In contrast with the primary directions of the Western avant-garde – performance art, concept art, body art – which have long since become canonized, the parallel movements in Socialist European countries remain mostly unknown. They revolve around the social transformation of urban space, the political relations between the private and public areas of life, the ideological viewpoint of the observer, and the specific sphere of the media. The two-part programme Parallel Movements – part of the "Akademie OSTWEST”, organized by the Tanzquartier Wien – shows principal works by the most influential artists of the region, works which have remained a focal point for subsequent generations.
