Evolving networks: International sponsors of post-socialist art scenes

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the countries of the former Soviet Bloc, the state had controlled art and culture according to strict ideological criteria – but it also subsidized cultural production. After 1989, the cultural infrastructure largely collapsed together with the state. The vacuum following socialist state subsidy opened up opportunities that were partially seized by international sponsors in the East-Central European region; the Soros Foundation and the ERSTE Stiftung were the two most important of them. Both organizations developed an extensive network of cultural workers across post-socialist Eastern Europe. With their programmes, the two foundations made considerable efforts to make known and brand East and Southeast European art on an international stage. Nevertheless, they, or rather their relevance for the cultural field of post-socialist East-Central Europe, are hardly known outside the region. Based on the insight of central actors in both these networks, this contribution revisits the activities of the two major donors and assesses their impact from today’s perspective.