DOI article:
Bartošová, Zuzana: From the Scene to the Clandestine: International Activities of Artists on the Unofficial Slovak Art Scene 1973-1976 (from the 2nd Slovak Visual Artists' Union Congress, 2.11.1972 to Charter '77, 1.1.1977)
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51713#0219
these congres ses that the new ideological dogma was
proclaimed, initiating subséquent sanctions against
spécifie individuals, groups and their artistic and,
by extension political, creeds. This was particularly
evident in the proceedings of the 2nd Congress of
the Slovák Visual Artists’ Union.* * 7
Between 1969 and 1972 some art critics, theo-
reticians and historians had already been punished
by being fired from their leading positions at the
heim of art institutions or by being expelled from
their positions as university and art school teachers.
However, it was only in the course of 1973, after
the conclusions of the 2nd Congress of the Slovák
Visual Artists’ Union came to be applied in practice,
that the artists themselves would expérience their
füll impact.
Nevertheless, it was the 2nd Congress of the
Slovák Visual Artists’ Union that can be regarded
as a milestone event, marking the beginning of a
split of Slovák artistic life into an official and unof-
ficial scene, a split between those who were allowed
to retain their membership in the “Consolidated”
and ideologically controlled organization and those
who were expelled. The chronological scope of
the present study thus focuses on the period from
November 1972 until the beginning of 1977, the
déclaration of Charter ‘77, an event that ushered in
a period of courageous and continuons monitoring
of social events and whose publication, as well as the
moral and civic stance it embodied had a profound
effect on the intellectual climate of the following
years in Czechoslovakia. Due to Charter ‘77, not only
society as a whole but also the cultural and artistic
community — including the visual arts community
— was forced to start asking more urgent and newly
formulated questions, not only about what their
civic and political attitudes meant but also, and most
importantly, about the meaning of their actions. The
period from Charter ‘77 until “perestroika” and the
See documents of the Congress of the Slovák Visual Artists’
Union published in the collection Za socialistické umenie [For a
Socialist Art]. Bratislava 1974, pp. 219-257.
8 For a perceptive account of life under “real existing socialism”
see the last chapter of Miroslav Kusý’s allegorical essay “Ko-
zoturiáda” in KUSÝ, M. - ŠIMEČKA, M.: Velký brat a velká
sestra. Bratislava 2000, pp. 93-108; and previous publications
by Milan Šimečka (ŠIMEČKA, M.: Obnovení pořádku. Köln
Velvet révolution (1989) has been dealt with by the
present writer elsewhere.
Evolution of the unofficial visual art scene
Looking at the spécifie historical situation and
its changing axioms we can say with hindsight that
although the unofficial scene was shaped by the fact
that its protagonists were forced outside the frame-
work of what was allowed into an unpublicised space,
to end up in this grey zone in itself did not neces-
sarily make an artist an integral part of the unofficial
scene. An analysis of the context and subséquent
events demonstrate that a passive attitude could not
legitimise the role of an artist in society.
Despite the constant ideological pressure the
artists were under, it was up to each individual to
formulate his or her own principles of personal as
well as professional conduct in the circumstances of
“really existing socialism”.8 Those who would not
be condemned to a life of waiting in obscurity and
anonymity set a high standard for their own activities,
not just in terms of their art but also in terms of their
ability to communicate with a potential, albeit often
only specialist, audience. In this respect every act of
“reaching out” was a step towards forming the unof-
ficial scene. However, unlike art historians who have
already covered this period, what I have in mind is the
social dimension of outreach: an act of stepping over
the threshold of the créative privacy of the studio,
be it by means of an announcement to a wider circle
of friends delivered by mail, a collective work of art,
by notifying an audience of friends or experts of the
event, via a local exhibition or action, or a célébration
or a happening attended by a larger group of people
with the authors themselves mingling with their ré-
ceptive audience. Another example of this kind of
activity were exhibitions held in improvised spaces or
institutions not originally intended as backdrop for
1979). The fact that the spirit of the artists was not broken
and they continued in exhibiting their works and keeping
contacts in Czechoslovakia and abroad in spite of restrictions,
repressions, and monitoring by the state police is documented
by recently published book SIVOŠ, J. (ed.): XII. správa ZNB.
Dokumenty k činnosti Správy kontraroyyiedky v Bratislavě v rokoch
1974 - 1989 [12th Report of the National Security Forces.
Documents on the activities of the Administration of Secret
Service in Bratislava in 1974 — 1989]. Bratislava 2008.
211
proclaimed, initiating subséquent sanctions against
spécifie individuals, groups and their artistic and,
by extension political, creeds. This was particularly
evident in the proceedings of the 2nd Congress of
the Slovák Visual Artists’ Union.* * 7
Between 1969 and 1972 some art critics, theo-
reticians and historians had already been punished
by being fired from their leading positions at the
heim of art institutions or by being expelled from
their positions as university and art school teachers.
However, it was only in the course of 1973, after
the conclusions of the 2nd Congress of the Slovák
Visual Artists’ Union came to be applied in practice,
that the artists themselves would expérience their
füll impact.
Nevertheless, it was the 2nd Congress of the
Slovák Visual Artists’ Union that can be regarded
as a milestone event, marking the beginning of a
split of Slovák artistic life into an official and unof-
ficial scene, a split between those who were allowed
to retain their membership in the “Consolidated”
and ideologically controlled organization and those
who were expelled. The chronological scope of
the present study thus focuses on the period from
November 1972 until the beginning of 1977, the
déclaration of Charter ‘77, an event that ushered in
a period of courageous and continuons monitoring
of social events and whose publication, as well as the
moral and civic stance it embodied had a profound
effect on the intellectual climate of the following
years in Czechoslovakia. Due to Charter ‘77, not only
society as a whole but also the cultural and artistic
community — including the visual arts community
— was forced to start asking more urgent and newly
formulated questions, not only about what their
civic and political attitudes meant but also, and most
importantly, about the meaning of their actions. The
period from Charter ‘77 until “perestroika” and the
See documents of the Congress of the Slovák Visual Artists’
Union published in the collection Za socialistické umenie [For a
Socialist Art]. Bratislava 1974, pp. 219-257.
8 For a perceptive account of life under “real existing socialism”
see the last chapter of Miroslav Kusý’s allegorical essay “Ko-
zoturiáda” in KUSÝ, M. - ŠIMEČKA, M.: Velký brat a velká
sestra. Bratislava 2000, pp. 93-108; and previous publications
by Milan Šimečka (ŠIMEČKA, M.: Obnovení pořádku. Köln
Velvet révolution (1989) has been dealt with by the
present writer elsewhere.
Evolution of the unofficial visual art scene
Looking at the spécifie historical situation and
its changing axioms we can say with hindsight that
although the unofficial scene was shaped by the fact
that its protagonists were forced outside the frame-
work of what was allowed into an unpublicised space,
to end up in this grey zone in itself did not neces-
sarily make an artist an integral part of the unofficial
scene. An analysis of the context and subséquent
events demonstrate that a passive attitude could not
legitimise the role of an artist in society.
Despite the constant ideological pressure the
artists were under, it was up to each individual to
formulate his or her own principles of personal as
well as professional conduct in the circumstances of
“really existing socialism”.8 Those who would not
be condemned to a life of waiting in obscurity and
anonymity set a high standard for their own activities,
not just in terms of their art but also in terms of their
ability to communicate with a potential, albeit often
only specialist, audience. In this respect every act of
“reaching out” was a step towards forming the unof-
ficial scene. However, unlike art historians who have
already covered this period, what I have in mind is the
social dimension of outreach: an act of stepping over
the threshold of the créative privacy of the studio,
be it by means of an announcement to a wider circle
of friends delivered by mail, a collective work of art,
by notifying an audience of friends or experts of the
event, via a local exhibition or action, or a célébration
or a happening attended by a larger group of people
with the authors themselves mingling with their ré-
ceptive audience. Another example of this kind of
activity were exhibitions held in improvised spaces or
institutions not originally intended as backdrop for
1979). The fact that the spirit of the artists was not broken
and they continued in exhibiting their works and keeping
contacts in Czechoslovakia and abroad in spite of restrictions,
repressions, and monitoring by the state police is documented
by recently published book SIVOŠ, J. (ed.): XII. správa ZNB.
Dokumenty k činnosti Správy kontraroyyiedky v Bratislavě v rokoch
1974 - 1989 [12th Report of the National Security Forces.
Documents on the activities of the Administration of Secret
Service in Bratislava in 1974 — 1989]. Bratislava 2008.
211