Orient

According to the creators of the exhibition Orient. The New East in the Art of Central and Eastern Europe, artists from countries of the former Eastern Bloc are united by their seemingly conflicting sense of pride and embarrassment of their homelands. Can a repressed inferiority complex be a reason behind the development of nationalistic and undemocratic feelings in Eastern Europe? Can we draw positive conclusions from admitting defeat when it comes to defining and using Eastern European identities? The organisers attempt to answer these and other questions by presenting works by around 50 artists from the former Eastern Bloc. In spite of historical traumas and difficulties with reintegrating with the rest of Europe following the collapse of the Iron Curtain (frequently driven by attempts to catch up with Western Europe’s perceived higher economic status), the exhibition aims to restore our faith in “Europe’s wayward children” returning to their European family on fraternal rather than protectionist terms. (Dorota Dziunikowska, “Karnet” monthly)