LONDON.- European ArtEast Foundation International Research Grants Open Call was launched in April as an open research platform to foster the professional engagement of curators, theorists and arts administrators in various fields of Eastern European post-war art. Since its inception, the Open Call has provided an open platform for collaborative efforts and expansion of curatorial practice as well as an opportunity for international researchers to apply for funding. In addition, the Open Call offered a unique occasion to examine the cultural and aesthetic trends of the researched timescale and region, namely Eastern European art created in the 1950s and 1960s.
This year’s jury included several professionals in the art field such as Dr Klara Kemp-Welch (Lecturer in 20th-century Modernism at The Courtauld Institute of Art), Nathalie Mamane-Cohen (Collector), Kasia Redzisz (Senior Curator at Tate Liverpool), as well as Delfina Foundation’s Director Aaron Cezar and Chairman of the Board of European ArtEast Foundation, Maria Rus Bojan alongside the EAEF team. Together, this group of professionals used their rich experience to make the verdict.
The winning proposals have been submitted by: Dominik Kurylek (Poland) - ‘Leokadia Serafinowicz's Modern Puppet Theatre for Children’; Caterina Preda (Romania) - ‘The “collectives of artists” and the role of the “Plastic Fund” in the establishment of Socialist Realism in 1950s Romania’; and Ianina Prudenko (Ukraine) - ‘Ukrainian theaters of light music: early light installations in Ukraine’.
In addition to the financial support, the grant’s recipients will be given ample opportunity to take part in activities of EAEF and its partners, including museums, galleries and universities in London where the foundation is based. The recipients are asked to submit a final report during the final week of the research period.
The 1st EAEF Open Call is provided as a joint programme between EAEF and Delfina Foundation, who will grant fees and guidance to the three selected recipients during the course of their research.
Established by Artur Trawinski and Irmina Nazar in 2017, the Foundation aims to provide a global perspective on Eastern European art and culture, and to encourage the development of projects that expand the discourse around modern and contemporary art from this region. Despite under-representation in, and a lack of access to, the international art world during the Soviet era, many post-war artists still boldly developed their own vision independently from the standardized canon of Socialist Realism. The Foundation has a particular interest in encouraging the rediscovery of seminal Eastern European artists from the 1950s and 1960s and maintaining their legacy. It also embodies the values of patronage as a context and framework to encourage creativity, innovation and cultural production among contemporary artists.
