Authors

Discussion

This paper is based on a work-in-progress project which focuses on avant-garde art in Yugoslavia and China during the 1970s and 1990s. It aims to disentangle the complex relationships among culture, society, politics and identity in late socialism through the lens of avant-garde art. The emergence and development of avant-garde art in these two countries during this period questioned the foundations of socialist ideology and system, playing a pivotal role in transforming socialist culture and society. This process intermingled with the rise of nationalism, which became a way of escaping stagnant socialist ideology. Adopting a comparative perspective, the paper highlights the commonalities and the divergences in the role of avant-garde art in the cultural and political transformations of late socialism in Yugoslavia and China. The paper examines the avant-garde exhibitions and art groups through four key dimensions: their political appeals and engagements with tradition and nationalism; questions of identity and collective memory; connections with the West; and the roles of female artists. This comparative approach challenges monolithic interpretations of socialist states and their avant-garde art movements. It seeks to highlight art and culture that are often treated as side stories or footnotes to political transformation and to provide new insights into enduring questions of nationalism, identity, memory and gender equality.