Private Nationalism – Berlin

The Private Nationalism Project is a series of international art and cultural programs. It has been realized as a collaborative effort among eight institutions from six countries, an international team of art professionals, and several artists from Central-Eastern Europe and beyond. 

Instead of “canned”, ready-made exhibitions traveling aimlessly to the different parts of the region with no consideration of the local circumstances, contexts or priorities, the subsequent exhibitions aimed to address the problems and concerns of “private nationalism” that were relevant in each of the countries involved, given that the national cases differ so widely.

Although the core works of all the exhibitions came from the same pool of artists featuring artworks that were sensitive to the relevant issues in the participating countries, each host institution provided locally specific sub-topics or approaches to the “umbrella concept”. Different local circumstances, priorities and urgencies were explored, as were sub-regions, zones of local conflict, political tensions and related minority questions. The closing exhibition of the project is Private Nationalism Berlin, which, instead of focusing on everyday realities and politics puts emphasis on the imaginary aspect of the nation-building process and scrutinizes its mechanisms.

All of the exhibitions also included film screenings, panel discussions, and museum pedagogy programs.

Rita Varga project leader
AAA/Approach Art Association, Pécs, Hungary