Demarco and Yugoslavia in the 1970s.

Blackwood, Jon

Abstract

During the Cold War period, relations between the UK and Yugoslavia were couched entirely in the frames of politics, economics or military history; in the later years of socialist Yugoslavia, from the later seventies onwards, links were also developed through state-run tourism, and the international components of youth work brigades, who helped to complete major infrastructure projects. Art was little considered, in the context of the UK - much less so than it had been during the period of Royal Yugoslavia (1918-1941), when the Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962) developed a significant international following. After the end of the Second World War, very little was known in the UK of contemporary art in Yugoslavia through to the early 1970s. In this text, we will focus on the pioneering nine-day trip taken by Richard Demarco to Yugoslavia in December 1972 and its consequences - not only for the international profile of Yugoslav art, but also for relations between Yugoslav artists and cultural ecologies in neighbouring countries.

Citation

BLACKWOOD, J. 2022. Demarco and Yugoslavia in the 1970s. In Leuzzi, L., Partridge, S. and Shemilt, E. (eds.) Richard Demarco: the Italian connection. Barnet: John Libbey, chapter 7, pages 105-113.

• Online Publication Date: Nov 30, 2022
• Publication Date: Dec 13, 2022
• Deposit Date: Mar 7, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: May 31, 2024
• Publisher: John Libbey Publishing
• Pages: 105-113
• Book Title: Richard Demarco: the Italian connection
• Chapter Number: 7
• ISBN: 9780861967537
• Keywords: Yugoslav art; Art history in Europe; Richard Demarco; Yugoslavia
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/1904920
• Additional Information: The book in which this chapter has been published is available for purchase from the publisher's website: https://iupress.org/9780861967537/richard-demarco/