Foreword

Abstract

The conference Art Beyond the Politics: Africa and the ‘Other’ Europe during the Cold War, planned by the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2022, was intended to explore the often-overlooked cultural exchanges between Central-Eastern Europe and Africa during the Cold War era. Its goal was to address a significant gap in art historical research by examining both actual and imagined connections between these regions, challenging the prevailing narratives that predominantly focus on Western Europe and the United States. Unfortunately, the outbreak of war in Ukraine rapidly disrupted these plans. Global academic networks were suddenly fractured, and scholars found themselves increasingly divided along national lines. Panels, collaborations, and exchanges that had been in preparation were postponed or cancelled, underscoring how geopolitical crises continue to shape the conditions of intellectual work. This special issue of Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis seeks to advance the conference’s objectives despite these disruptions, providing a platform for scholarly engagement with the intersections of art, politics, and cultural exchange between Africa and the ‘Other’ Europe during the Cold War.

This issue brings together the work of twelve authors, whose papers engage with a wide range of questions, insights, and perspectives. Each contribution offers a unique approach to understanding the cultural, political and artistic intersections between Africa and the Central-Eastern Europe during the Cold War. Collectively, the papers illuminate both historical connections and conceptual frameworks, providing new analyses, critical reflections, and, in some cases, tentative answers to long-standing questions in art history and cultural studies.