The Influencing Machine: an exhibition curated by Aaron Moulton

Abstract

ideological bedrock of the postsocialist contemporary. Under socialism, the attitude of “antipolitics” represented a sort of dissidence and resistance against the one-party state. However, such dissidence manifested in various degrees of intensity across the former Soviet-bloc countries. As a result, “anti-politics” impacted the post-1989 transformations in different ways. Even though the author underscores the importance of differentiating between the various national contexts, the reader is left wanting more specific examples and comparative analyses of the various SCCA centres and their programmes within their particular localities, beyond the SCCAs in Hungary and Romania, which are referenced frequently. Esanu addresses the ways in which the SCCA-related activities unfolded in relation to the broader economic and political forces shaping the transition from socialism to capitalist democracy. He mentions the influence of major institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, as well as the impact of economic deregulation and privatization. Ultimately, The Postsocialist Contemporary represents a perceptive and much needed contribution to the field of contemporary art in post-1989 Eastern Europe. Esanu astutely demonstrates the multi-faceted institutional role that the SCCA network played in the emergence and shaping of contemporary art perceived not only as an “administrative term” or an “alternative and a new way” of making art after 1989 but also as a branding tool for the Open Society Foundations within the democratic neoliberal market.