21/03/2026
discussion
Europe after 1945: Art, Memory and Historical Continuities
This Cat Was Drawn During the War
The panel is devoted to post-1945 Europe, understood not as a closed chapter of history but as a space of unresolved traumas and uneven memories manifested through art. Bringing together perspectives from the Baltic region and Central and Eastern Europe, the discussion explores how different historical experiences — the Second World War, socialism, post-socialist transformations and contemporary wars — shape a fragmented yet interconnected European memory landscape. And if the post-war period is still ongoing, where does the war actually end, and what role does art play in these processes: can it protect, preserve memory or warn against future crises?
- Participants:
- Valentinas Klimašauskas — curator, writer and Director of the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius since January 2025.
- Tomáš Pospiszyl — art historian, educator, writer and curator based in Prague.Since May 2025, he has served as the rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague.
- Zdenka Badovinac — curator and art critic, Director of Moderna Galerija (Museum of Modern Art) in Ljubljana since 1993.
- András Edit — art historian, critic and curator working in Budapest and on Long Island.
- Moderator:
- Kateryna Iakovlenko — curator, visual culture researcher and writer from Ukraine.
