PRIVATE NATIONALISM
Despite the fact that in the early nineties, new states mushroomed on the very site of the collapsed Soviet
Union and Yugoslavia, the Post-Cold War world loved to share the illusion that the system of nation-states
is declining, and is not the major force anymore in the time of globalization. Fukuyama, in his infamous
book1, connected the victory of capitalism and liberal democracy with the passing away of ideology, among
them the most common one, nationalism. In his response Huntington developed a highly influential theory
of “the clash of civilizations”2 that shifted the focus (and the trench lines) from ideology to civilization.
Dividing the world again, but now along different lines, meant pointing the finger to a new enemy, though
this time on the basis of different cultures and civilizations, instead of opposing ideologies.
The idea of vanishing of all those obsolete trends and currents, among them nationalism, that was believed
to belong to the modern age in essence, has been also promoted by the discourse of postmodernism. The
term "post-nationalism", satisfying the need for a distinction according to “the spirit of time”, was supposed
to stand for the changed meaning of the outdated, romantic national sentiment. Although postmodernism
does not rely on truth and reality, it still can’t turn its back on the obviously existing and virulent phenomena
either. Patriotism, signifying the future-oriented sentiment conceived as a good one, and nationalism,
standing for the old meaning of national pride and sentiment, and conceived as the bad one, fulfilled the
need for terminological separation.
By the same token, other theoretical frameworks were put forward to draw a distinction between cold and
good “civic nationalism”, regarded as approved and up-to-date, and between barbaric “ethnic nationalism”,
falling back to premature time.3 As for Europe, theorists are ready to apply the bad version to New Europe
(the Eastern part of Europe), suffering from “ontological insecurity”4, and as such, serving as a hotbed for
old-new ideologies. Such ideologies offer a safe home by considering those who are believed to endanger
the glorious past and bright destiny of the nation as enemies. “Hot” and dangerous nationalism is routinely
connected to the margins, or peripheries, as Michael Billig warns us. His aim is to elaborate on the
nationalism of established nations and democracies, for which he coins a new term: “banal nationalism” 5.
He focuses mostly on the USA and Great Britain, offering argumentation for the existence of the invisible,
naturalized, “unflagged” and dormant type of nationalism. As a bonus, he erases the sharp line between the
national sentiments of the great and small, and between the “cursed” and “blessed” nations. In the
footsteps of Billig, Edensor6 puts an emphasis on popular culture, and on the mundane, everyday practices
and secular rituals that are a part of the process of re-shaping and reaffirming national identity. He also
sheds light on the barely conscious set of assumptions and activities of the laymen, as opposed to the
more general focus on the official, traditional and historical manifestation of nationalism. Billig’s analysis of
„unflagged” (cool and tempered) nationalisms of the established democracies makes us aware of the tricky
nature of nationalism, which camouflages itself so effectively that we do not even recognize it as such,
taking it for granted and regarding it as obvious and natural. Edensor goes further in his focus on the
everyday and “banal”, when he warns us that the mechanism is not to be restricted to the macro level, and
to high culture, as everyday, popular culture is much more effective in propagating national sentiments.
1
Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1992
Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affair, summer 1993.
3
Michael Ignatieff, Blood and Belonging: Journey into the New Nationalism. London: Chatto and Windus, 1993
4
Anthony Giddens, The Nation-state and Violence. Volume of Two A Contemporary critique of Historical
Materialism.Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1987, 218.
5
Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: SAGE publications, 1995
6
Tim Edensor, National Identity, Populatr Cultur and Everyday life. Oxford, New York: Berg, 2002
2
However, they both fail to provide any examples from the region of Eastern and Central Europe, otherwise
considered to be the hotbed of neo-nationalism.
More than two decades after the Cold War and the collapse of the Communist system, it is difficult to put
forward an explanation for the rising nationalisms in the post-socialist countries based on the difficulties of
the transition. More than a decade after 9/11, in light of the subsequent events, it is hard to have faith in the
all-so-good “liberal revolution”. Similarly, the credibility of its theoretical underpinnings is problematic, such
as the “clash of civilizations”, which justify new conflicts and competition and new enemies in place of the
old ones. It is no longer acceptable to locate nationalism at the margins and at the peripheries either, given
the fact that normative culture is on the rise across the globe, including in the old Western democracies.7 In
the Netherlands and Scandinavia, mass migration makes it easy to construct a new “other”, which is
essential for creating and sustaining a supposedly homogeneous nation. Despite the opposite rhetoric,
based on wishful thinking or on escapist strategy, it has become increasingly difficult to conceive of
nationalism as a waning force in the globalized world. Recent hate speeches and violent xenophobic
actions spreading all over Europe have heightened the need for close scrutiny of the sneaky comeback of
an old phenomenon with a new face; irrespective of whether we call it banal, hot, neo or new nationalism.
******
Private nationalism is a series of international art and cultural programs supported by the European Union
Culture 2007-2013, Visegrad Fund and local sponsors, to be realized as a collaboration of eight institutions
from six countries, a team of art professionals, and several artists from Central-Eastern Europe and its
buffer zone. The aim of the collaborative project is to shed light on an overlooked aspect of the daily
operation of any kind of nationalism, namely the subtle process of absorption and infiltration of its
ingredients into citizens' everyday lives, that is, the very process of its interiorisation into the private life.
A disturbing, ill-fitting combination of words with supposedly opposing meanings, the term (private
nationalism) coined by the initiators of the project is about making a point; that nationalism is not something
beyond private life, imposed on to the citizens by the state, certain social movements, or other external
forces, but very much exists and prospers at the micro level as well. There are individuals who are eager to
embrace the habits and rituals proposed by the state or by extreme social movements, creatively promoting
ever new ways of worshipping their own nation and everything that comes with it. Building blocks of
nationalism are part of our everyday life, our daily existence, as well as part of our habits, customs and
rituals, regardless of our not even noticing them. Redistribution of national identity is reliant on our barely
conscious set of assumptions about those who we do and do not consider to be a part of our nation. Our
clichés, labels and stereotypes about ourselves and about them are about to be scrutinized.
Although some recent exhibitions and collections of essays8 addressed the urging question of how
nationalism resonates in the contemporary art of post-socialist countries, far too little attention has been
7
Andre Gingrich & Marcus Banks (eds.), Case Studies from Western Europe in Neo-Nationalism in Europe &
beyond: Perspectives from Social Anthropology. New York, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2005, 69-196.
8
Minna Henriksson and Sezgin Boynik (Eds. By), Contemporary Art and Nationalism: Critical reader. Exit
Institute for Contemporaray Art and MM-publications, Pristina, 2007; Let’s Talk about Nationalism: Between
paid to the process of inscription, to the daily routine of “privatization” of nationalism, and to how artists
observe and comment on it. The recent collaborative project focuses on the issue of “private nationalism”
as it is seen from the perspective of socially conscious and reflective artists with critical attitudes.
Instead of “canned”, ready-made exhibitions wandering in different parts of the region while being cut off
from local contexts and priorities, the subsequent shows seek to remedy the problems and concerns of
“private nationalism” from a different curatorial concept, each of them having its own sub-topic or approach
to the “umbrella term”. Although all the exhibitions will be based on works coming from the same pool of
artists and artworks sensitive to the set of related problems in the collaborating countries, each host
institution aims to extend its scope by sweeping its geographical radius. Hence, different sub-regions,
zones of local conflicts, political tensions and allied minority questions will be explored. In Central-Eastern
Europe, characterized by historically mixed ethnic communities, the enemy is to be found beyond the
border or among local minorities (Jews, ethnic minorities, Roma people, gays). Artworks are capable of
interrupting the hypnosis and mass delusion by subverting the imagined naturalness of national identity,
and by uncovering the process of the construction of the “other”, which plays a crucial role in building the
image of a homogenous nation.
However, apart from casting light on conflicts and problems, the other side of the coin will be shown as
well: the historical tradition of a transnational overarching of the borders, as well as the existence of fruitful
and mutual influences in shared and neighboring territories. Cooperation of artists with different
nationalities will also come into play, providing arguments and visions to promote peaceful co-existence.
As for the different sites, those with smaller spaces (Apartman Project Gallery, Berlin) are free to embrace
experimental works or focus exclusively on specific, locally important aspects. The contributions of sites
with bigger spaces will be the meticulous elaboration of various facets of the topic (Kunsthalle, Kosice /
m21 Gallery, Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, Pécs / Bunkier Sztuki, Krakkow / MODEM, Debrecen). Ostrale
(Dresden), the farthest site on the West, goes even further by reaching out for artworks produced in and
related to the old Western democracies, with the aim to reveal and undermine the deep-seated belief that
the fertile soil of nationalism is to be found in the eastern part of Europe. While Divus Gallery in Prague
serves as a kind of flagship exhibition, providing the trailer of the whole project, Ostrale’14 in Dresden
offers a kind of survey on the issue at hand. Different museum pedagogical programs and join events are
intended to be connected to all the exhibitions.
Parallel to the exhibitions, an international artist-in-residence program will offer 15 artists from all six
participating countries the opportunity to spend altogether 15 months in four countries, a great possibility for
cultural exchange and immersion into another culture. (Organizations receiving artists are: SpaceGallery,
Bratislava / ApartmanProjekt, Istanbul / Ostrale, Dresden / AAA/Approach Art Association, Pécs.)
Workshops and an international conference will serve as discursive background to the project aiming to
unfold the potentials of art in grasping the 21st century revival of nationalism in the ex-East bloc and
beyond.
Ideology and Identity. KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn, 2010; WHW, How Much Fascism? Berger Kunsthall, Norway,
2011; New Natinal Art. National Realism in XXI Century Poland Art. Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, 2012
Subsequent exhibitions and programs:
•
February 21st-March 15th 2014
Divus Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Curators: Lenka Klodova, Ivan Mecl
•
March 27th-April 30th 2014
Kunsthalle, Kosice, Slovakia
Curators: Ilona Németh, Michal Stofa
•
May 8th- June 15th 2014
M 21 Gallery, Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, Pécs, Hungary.
Curators: Rita Varga, Márton Pacsika
•
July 18th-September 28th, 2014
Ostrale’14, Dresden, Germany
Curators: Nadine Bors, Andrea Hilger
•
November 9th-November 30th, 2014
Bunkier Sztuki, Krakkow, Poland
Curators: Anna Lebensztejn
•
November 15th-December 30th, 2014
Apartman Project Gallery (Turkey), Berlin, Germany
Curator: Selda Asal
•
April 15th-July 30th, 2015
Modem, Debrecen, Hungary
Curator: Edit András