Transnational Links during the Cold War: The Case of the Tyler Collection in Tasmania

• In Event: Transnational and Trans-Ideological Connections: Cultural Relations between the Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe and the Capitalist West I

Abstract

In 1973, Australian economist and art lover Geoffrey Tyler began a series of visits to Romania while working for the International Monetary Fund. Over the next fifteen years, Tyler established lasting personal relationships with a number of Romanian artists and acquired a diverse range of works, including prints, paintings, ceramics from twenty-six makers. Tyler’s collection also sampled from Byzantine traditions by including numerous Romanian and Russian icons, as well as The Book of Job by Romantic printmaker and poet William Blake. Tyler’s engagement with artists is significant, forming a record of creative expression during the regime of General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party Nicolae Ceaușescu. The resulting archive, including letters and catalogues, was kept in Washington DC until being donated to Tyler’s alma mater, The University of Tasmania in Hobart, Australia. Reimagining the collection in its new home, far from its geopolitical origins, has catalysed a research fellowship program to better understand the context of these works, and the conditions under which the assembled artists drew inspiration from a rich Byzantine heritage - at the same time obliged to the expectations of a government fixed in totalitarian ideologies and Ceaușescu’s cult of personality. The cultural and political resonances captured by the Typer Collection offer a poignant opportunity to reflect on the current renewal of authoritarianism in Eastern Europe and beyond, and to refresh our understanding of the role of art in preserving and reinterpreting the value of cultural heritage in times of tumultuous change.

Author

• Rachael Rose, U of Tasmania (Australia)