East Central European Art Histories and Austria: Imperial Pasts - Neoliberal Presences - Decolonial Futures

The specific role of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the later nation of Austria within the formation of regional art histories in East Central Europe has received little attention in art historical research so far. Taking into account the era of the Dual Monarchy as well as the period after 1989, the contributions analyze and critically scrutinize the imperial legacies, transnational transfer processes and cultural hierarchies in art historiographies, artistic practices and institutional histories. Consisting of 17 texts, with new commissions and one reprint, case studies, monographic essays and interviews grouped thematically into two sections, the anthology proposes a pluriversal narrative on regional, cultural and political contexts.

Julia Allerstorfer is art historian, curator and assistant professor at the Institute of History and Theory of Art at Katholische Privat-Universität Linz. Her teaching and research foci comprise contemporary art in Iran, modern art in Austria, artistic practices in the context of migration, postcolonialism and transculturality, global and entangled art history and transdisciplinary approaches in art history with an emphasis on postcolonial theory.
Karolina Majewska-Güde is a researcher, art historian and curator at the Institute of Art History at the University of Warsaw. From 2019 to 2021, she worked as an assistant professor at the Institute for the History and Theory of Art at Katholische Privat-Universität Linz and is currently leading a research project on collective artistic women’s work under socialism at the University of Warsaw. She is involved in several international collaborative research projects that deal with the rewriting of the art history of East Central Europe from a transnational and feminist perspective.
Monika Leisch-Kiesl is a professor for art history and aesthetics at Katholische Privat-Universität Linz and a curator. She lives and works in Linz (Austria), Basel (Switzerland) and Krakow (Poland). Her recent projects include Tango Osobiste, Cricoteka Krakow (Aug. 2022) and Tango Wielopole, Kantorówka Wielopole (April 2024).