The Art of Protest

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

This course examines the art of protest in Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia, from the 19th century to the present day. Artists and writers from this region have a long history of fighting against and working within repressive conditions. In response to censorship, political imprisonment, authoritarianism, and other threats, they have developed unique strategies of survival and protest, as well as a conceptual apparatus around the idea of the "power of the powerless." As we examine performance art, literature, music, visual art (from painting to film), and other art forms that have challenged repressive institutions, we consider art’s unique potential for political protest. To prompt comparative inquiry across media and historical times, the course is organized into several thematic sections: war, censorship, patriarchy, capitalism, prisons & camps, and historical amnesia. As we work to unearth a theory and practice of artistic protest across time and space, we also examine the specific historical circumstances of each artwork.