Legacies of Queer Desire in Contemporary Art of the Post-Yugoslav Space and its Diasporas

• In Event: Imagined Memories of Liquid Transitions: Manifestations in (Post-)Soviet / Post-Socialist Popular Cultures and Visual Arts

Abstract

While socialist and communist eras in twentieth century “Eastern Europe” continue to be monolithically historicized as homophobic, the Cold War history of socialist Yugoslavia has recently become a foundation for posing critical alternatives to the neoliberal rise of conservative backlashes against advances for LGBTQ+ rights since the early 1990s wars in the region. Analyzing art after the 1990s wars—when the disintegration of the united Yugoslav federation brought with it new forms of discrimination, economic hardship, and cultural segregation—this presentation will highlight the emancipatory strength of cultural memory through the longevity of queer resistance in artworks from the post-socialist Yugoslav space and its diasporas.

Author

• Jasmina Tumbas, SUNY Buffalo