Czech Women and Art: Postcommunist Politics, Ideologies and Feminism
The effects of this extended in two particular directions. Besides creating the stress of now an increased outside workload on domestic responsibilities, it also gave certain omnipotence in the women to “do it all”. Czech woman would boast that she manages to be a specialist at work, cooks two big hot meals a day, raises up two kids, is able to find them Western clothes on the black market, to sew for herself a designer-like dress from a Russian version of Western magazine, and get up at 4 a.m. every Thursday to stand in line in front of the bookstore to get a new quality book. The logic "I'm a woman. I can manage everything" was prevalent. (4) Consequentially women like other fields were also involved in the arts at this time, but again not in high decision-making roles. Comparatively it was quite opposite than western feminist art being produced, and carried a particular communist party influence of ideology. Like politics of this time, the marginalization of women extended into the arts as well. These great social influxes influenced the contemporary art scene in a very particular way. Much research and critical assessment of art in this time period is avoided and until just recently practically forbidden. Tensions over the Iron Curtain’s influence categorizes all art in this era as being purely propagandized. There was a great Union of Czechoslovak Fine Artists, which focused on promoting Communist Party ideology. Social realism or “sorela” was the main art movement of the communist period. (1) Art Historians in the past five years are now starting to further investigate the importance of analyzing and recognizing art from the communist period as more of a representation of important utopian ideas rather than just political propaganda. Recent political frustrations in the Czech Republic lead to an attitude of reassessing these ideals even in public acceptance. The passage of time over delicate political wounds allows for better art criticism today. This is great news, as it is historically important to document any art created by women in the communist period to give us an echo of understanding of struggle through an artistic level. Dismissal of art created from this time then is less prominent with new art exhibitions in Prague and modern art history. Unfortunately, much art was destroyed and blacklisted after 1989. (1) After 1989, there was a pull back to the privatization of politics in the art world due to these sensitivities. Art was pulled back to traditional studies void of political view. It is therefore difficult in the contemporary field then for competing women artists, as simultaneously women in western culture have been using strong feminist responses to social changes in the Unites States for over 30 years without the economic and regime upheavals as Czech women. (7) This has shaped the style and movement of the art world in an extreme manner by placing Czech women on the same political expectations of western standards of femininity. Because of the rejection of these feminist western ideologies, Czech women have retreated politically to the private sphere concerning art. Czech women have little or no interest in addressing the ideas of feminism in art in the manner of western standards. Because of all these social changes, they have a unique and much different experience of what feminism means to them and gender roles. In the communist era, Czech women could not become social or political subjects to the extent that they were economically dependent. Because of the limitations women had in authority positions, they have received only little ideological support from recent feminist art and literature. (7) Pachmanova assesses this was only because of their “all-out submission to dominant Western definitions of femininity”. This reflects significantly on a field such as contemporary art where much popularity comes from the extreme reaction to politics within a global perspective. Because of this retreat into artistic political privatization, is it possible to imagine the difficulties a woman artist in the Czech republic today would be met with if any political statement were made in an artistic piece. In parallel, it is hard to imagine it not being political and becoming recognizable in the art field as a legitimate social reaction as well. After decades of communist propaganda and little art history criticisms of this time, it is also evoking an unsavory attitude of politics in art in the Eastern European Bloc. Besides mistrusting many political statements without harsh criticism, feminine art in particular is viewed as secondary or lumped with western feminist political philosophy. In this way, it is hard to give an identity without making the private political. A negative effect of the unmanaged gender equalities given during the communist period also resounds into disinterest of political feminist Czech artwork and support. It is dismissed as communist propaganda without a real legitimacy. In turn, in order to gain acceptance in the competitive art world, women artists are often asked to “give up their femininity, to neuter themselves politically and otherwise, and to consequently to merge with those artists who float in an ahistorical and utopian universal space above any particular political and social issues”. (7) It is a very natural progression then, to see why political views became private in artwork after the communist period. The ideals associated with gender equality for Czech women are forced in either of the two categories: either being too closely tied to the failures of the communist regime concerning gender equality, or the negative and foreign ideals of western femininity. Issues over reproductive rights in the Czech public today are bringing the political out of the private however. With the controversy over abortion rights, many women are finding a renewed interest in political participation (2), and therefore liberating the popularity for art and artistic statement involving women artists. Artistic “voices” are more likely to be addressed in this manner. Recent increases in unemployment among women and the Czech Republic in general is also kindling political interest. While artistic influence does not need to purely become political for legitimacy, the reality for Czech women is that for now it is almost impossible to separate the two. Women in the Czech republic face the same patriarchal ideologies in art to some degree globally concerning sexism and racism like other cultures, but it is unique for them because it is centered more on political opinion rather than an idea of a cultural bigotry. This is often not addressed or dismissed by western ideologies because politically the sensitivities of gender equality in the workplace was not a regime change in western history, but a progression of internal change. (3) It is all the more imperative then for renewed interest in art criticism of communist artwork to continue to educate globally on the position of Czech women as a true reflection of what happened. Not surprising is the attitude of Czech women to be resentful of western artwork and ideologies of femininity when the experience differs so much politically. II. Ideological Influences concerning Women in the Arts: Feminine views of life through an artistic expression are categorized by gender and pushed exclusively into gender margins. The global problem of exclusion of women in the higher positions in the art field has propagated these attitudes, as well as society ideologies as a whole. Placing the extensive research into this as a whole aside, further exploration into Czech women faced with this as well as particular social ideologies has to be addressed to fully understand the position Czech women face today. Avant-garde artwork influenced by artists such as Karel Teige or Jiri Kroha set the stage for utopian ideals later molded into the more conservative style of “sorela” art. (1) At first it is strange to compare the two, but the ideals inherit in these art movements regarding social changes is important to recognize. The rejection of the bourgeois traditional art influenced artwork globally. This also came with a certain masculine style directly addressing political change. This leaves women in further paradox of defining socially acceptable artwork and public interest. What is interesting is that although the post-war Communist elite dismissed and even censored avant-garde as politically the opposite, utopian ideals were still visible in artwork during this time, even used as propaganda for the Communist agenda in Czechoslovakia. (4) Sensitivities involving the censorship of artwork are issues women artists in Czech had to cope with in addition to traditional gender bias and interpretation in the art field.
Political activity as well as domestic control (to the jokes of many retrospective Czech women) was also very high. Education was greatly advanced, even to western feminist standards today. Unfortunately policies in place to support these changes were lacking, and women were overburdened. What was missing was precisely the right to choose between the right to be a worker, politician or a housewife. Because of the censorship however of freely-run women oriented publications and media during the communist era, women in post-communist Czech indulged in these sometimes “cheap” western forms of entertainment to the disdain of western feminists. Not understanding that Czech women had interest in these “cheap” pleasures due to oppressive censorship and the inability to choose to see them in the communist era, western feminists assumed “the worst” for Czech women without regard to historical facts. (4) These western feminists took on a “we are missionaries” position in attitude to Czech women, which formed much resentment. This is a huge problem in bridging women in the arts when modern criticism and monetary support relies so heavily on definitions of feminism. Since western ideologies are the dominant attitudes in many fields as well as the arts, Czech women are at a disadvantage in representation. This divide is a real and heated one between the two regions, which is bringing out current organizations to educate and gather feminists to a common understanding of regional and cultural differences. The Gender Studies Center in Prague (8) for one, illustrates this move toward organization of feminist movements and therefore better education about Czech women and their positions. The recent discussion about abortion is helping to fuel organizations to come together about gender studies and political activity. Perhaps in this manner Czech women will gain a more global voice and give the world a better understanding of the position of feminist Czech goals. This translates down into many areas of policy, which effects, once again, every field like the arts. In particular it is interesting to examine future and well as past art of Czech women to broaden the view. The bonding of feminist women on a global perspective is imperative when dangers such as prostitution in Czech are present. If women can come to a common ground on an artistic understanding, support would be accepted on a wider scale. This is met, however, with skepticism from many Czech feminists, since the bonding about feminist issues was founded on the idea that Czech women are different that western feminists, and therefore have a unified understanding of their particular suffering. The ideals of a united "feminist brigade" all over the world never appealed to Czech feminists. (4) This aside, further attempts at tolerance and outside sensitivity to Czech individuality can further network support for Czech feminist goals. Art criticism is critical in this where an understanding of the privatization of politics and the need to feminize all artwork into a particular political feminist category is combated. Conclusion: Notes:
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