Czech Art and the Politics of In/Visibility

In this research project, Maruška Svašek explores visual production and power in the Czech lands in different historical periods, covering (1) visions and visualisations of Czech nationhood in the context of the Habsburg Empire and the establishment of Czechoslovakia, (2) art worlds and the politics of censorship, oppression and resistance under Nazism, Stalinism and post-Stalinist Communism, and (3) the impact of democracy and capitalism on art production after the 1989 Velvet Revolution. The research has led to numerous publications since 1995. At present, Svašek is working on the monograph Czech Art and the Politics of Visibility: An Ethnography of Un/Making and Un/Becoming.

Profile picture: Scene at Eva Koťátková’s exhibition ‘My Body Is Not an Island’, Trade Fair Palace, Prague (Photograph 2023, Maruška Svašek).