Critical Approaches to Art, Race and Coloniality in Eastern Europe

Building on recent scholarship that challenges the supposed historical isolation of Eastern European art from the colonial matrix of power, this book critiques the sometimes uncritical application of established Western postcolonial and decolonial theories to the region's visual production. Instead, it advocates for more nuanced, historically grounded methodologies sensitive to Eastern Europe's specific circumstances as a capitalist (semi)periphery and an area shaped by multiple competing empires. Moving beyond Cold War binaries, the essays collectively argue that the region's volatile historical positionalities destabilise rigid theoretical divides between coloniser and colonised, challenge normative understandings of whiteness and indigeneity, and highlight the divergent political trajectories of post-socialism and post-colonialism in artistic practice. Conceptualised as a critical intervention, the volume amplifies voices from the (semi)periphery to make a significant methodological contribution to debates in the global history of art, foregrounding the variegated nature of colonialism itself. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, colonialism and postcolonialism studies, and Eastern European studies.