COURAGE

gyűjtemények hálózata

This is a document containing a conclusion based on investigative actions pertaining to the alleged emergence of nationalism in the Emigrant Foundation of Croatia (EFC) from 1964 to 1967, i.e. during the term of Većeslav Holjevac as its president. The Commission has identified incidents that "have manifested a certain nationalistic turn as well as an unhealthy climate, suitable for further deformities in the Emigrant Foundation of Croatia-" Holjevac was held the most responsible for this, because of "deeper ideological and political misconceptions about the national issue he is considering outside of the class and social context." Henceforth, Holjevac was forced to resign from membership in the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Croatia (CC LCC), and consequently from the post of president of the EFC. As a concrete fault, the document specifies: the shortcomings of the proposed EFC Charter due to the one-sided orientation on emigrants exclusively of Croatian nationality, then the mitigation of the characterization of two emigrant organizations - the "Croatian Academy" in New York and the "American-Croatian Academic Club" in Cleveland (from those hostile to Yugoslavia, to neutral, cultural organizations) in materials prepared by Secretary I. Marinković. Holjevac was also accused of hesitating to condemn the Declaration on the Status and Name of the Croatian Literary Language and its signatories, the lack of a reception and non-attendance on Republic Day in 1966, the singing of Croatian songs on New Year’s Eve ("Heavenly Maiden, Queen of the Croats," "Arise, banus"). The accusations included an appeal for help from emigrants during the flood in Zagreb in 1964, because it was addressed to "Croatian emigrants and other Yugoslav citizens on temporary work abroad," as well as putting Franjo Tuđman, Zvonimir Komarica and Ivo Frangeš on the list for the Main Committee (MC) of the EFC, and the rationale for signing a letter of solidarity with Ljudevit Jonke after the official condemnation of the aforementioned Declaration.

Holjevac was additionally found guilty of political aberrations on the nationalist viewpoint because of his disagreement with such assessments and for "ignoring his political responsibility." The Commission therefore instructed the convening of the EFC Extraordinary Assembly because of the changes in the MC and the definition of the EFC’s orientation "in accordance with the policies of our society."

This document is a very clear example of repressive action taken by the CC LCC, i.e., one of its bodies, in terms of cultural policy. Conduct beyond the established ideological line was not allowed and was quickly dealt with, and those involved were punished by the loss of their status in society, functions and often employment, and were placed under surveillance.

By 1995, the document was, along with the other records of socio-political organisations, a part of the Archives of the Institute of History of the Labour Movement of Croatia/Institute of Contemporary History. That year, in July, it was handed over to the Croatian State Archives (CSA), where it is kept today. The documents are accessible for use without any restrictions.

The card contains three cut and glued press clippings containing reports on trials for “offences against the people and the State by enemy propaganda.” As a criminal act aimed against the people and the State, enemy propaganda was defined in the 1951 Criminal Code as propaganda by illustration, writing, or public speech at rallies or otherwise, aimed against the state structure and social system, and against political, economic, military or other important institutions of the people’s government. Strict imprisonment was stipulated as punishment for the perpetration of such a crime.

Two press clippings refer to trials against Vlatko Pavletić (Zagreb, 2 December 1930 – Zagreb, 19 September 2007), the then editor-in-chief of the magazine Kritika, a publication of  the literary organization Matica hrvatska and the Croatian Association of Writers. The third clipping refers to a trial against journalist Smiljana Rendić (Split, 1926 – Trsat, 1994), because of her article “Izlazak iz genitiva ili drugi hrvatski preporod” [‘Exit from the genitive or the second Croatian revival’], published in 1971 in the issue no. 18 of the same magazine, which was therefore banned. Together with a group of officials of Matica hrvatska,  Pavletić was arrested in 1972 and then sentenced to a year and a half of strict imprisonment as a Croatian nationalist on charges of “attempting to overthrow and alter the state structure.” Rendić was sentenced to a year’s imprisonment and was banned from public activity for one year after her release. They demonstrate a number of cases of prosecution against members of the Croatian Spring that followed the suppression of that reform movement in Croatia at the end of 1971. A significant part of this prosecution encompassed cultural institutions and humanist intellectuals. The work of Matica hrvatska and its magazine Kritika were banned by the communist authorities. The collection includes a number of press clippings about these events, grouped in several topics in the categories for Culture (filing folders KUL 320 and KUL 491) and Domestic affairs (filing folder UP 27 and UP 28), and in the dossiers Public Persons category. The documents are available for research and copying.

Petko Ogoyski in his collection with a piece of bread, the daily ration in the forced labour camp in Belene on the island Persin, he received on the day of his liberation from the camp in August 1953 and preserved. During the period of state socialism, the materials showing the repressive nature of the regime in Bulgaria were hidden at the birthplace of Petko Ogoyski, in the village of Ogoya, located between Sofia and the city of Vratsa. They were shown and made known to the public after the political turn in November 1989. After the end of the socialist state, numerous events were organized in which Petko Ogoyski participated and used materials of his collection (s. Events).

A request to stop the prosecution of Ján Čarnogurský, Hana Ponická, Anton Selecký, Miroslav Kusý and Vladimír Maňák addressed to the Czechoslovak President Gustáv Husák on 5 October 1989. The collection contains many requests or appeals to the President dealing with the prosecutions of church officials or believers. This request complains about the ignoring of other requests and criticises the imprisonment of Ján Čarnogurský, founder of the samizdat Bratislava Papers, and Miroslav Kusý. The appeal is signed by Roman Kaliský, František Mikloško, Martin M. Šimečka, Ján Langoš and other contributors in Bratislava Papers.

This samizdat miniature with its photocopied (from a microfilm) and manually bound pages represents a typical form of smuggling underground materials from Soviet Ukraine. Microfilms and miniature forms were the only way to safely smuggle abroad illegal literature and documents from the Soviet Union.

This samizdat book was rolled and hidden in a luggage of a Smoloskyp courier. This was the way how Smoloskyp couriers managed to smuggle many other Ukrainian samizdat and dissident materials, including Bil’mo by M. Osadchyi, O. Berdnyk’s manuscripts, the entire collection of the documents of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group, D. Shumuk’s memoirs, a photo collection belonged to M. Rudenko, and so on. The obtained materials were later published in both Ukrainian and English, and were circulated in international media.

Mykhailo Braichevsky wrote his article Priednannia chy voz’ednannia? (Annexation or Reunification?) in 1966 in which he openly criticised the Theses on the 300^th Anniversary of the Reunification of Ukraine and Russia (1654-1954), a document imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1954 as the only permitted interpretation of the events of 1654 in Ukrainian history, namely, the Pereiaslav Council and the Treaty of Pereiaslav, after which Ukraine became a part of the Russian Empire. Braichevsky’s work was circulated in samizdat in Ukraine,  smuggled abroad, and was published in Canada as a brochure. As a result of this writing, Braichevsky was fired from the Institute of History, where he worked as a researcher. In the next decade he was oppressed by the Soviet authorities and the Communist Party that demanded his public “repentance” and acknowledgment of his research “falsities.” He was not allowed to officially continue his research career.

In Leipzig between 1985 and 1988, Karim Saab, Angelika Klüssendorf, and Gert Neumann issued ANSCHLAG (known as “Machwerk” by the Stasi). The publication was inspired by the production of UND and its producers aimed at bringing arts and opposition together in Leipzig as well. The prints were typed (a volume included 40 pieces; considering that printing over 100 copies required permission from the authorities), altogether including nineteen issues and two special issues. In addition to its literary and artistic contributions, the publication also included political statements such as of Vaclav Havel. Often Saab carried ANSCHLAG to Berlin in the Umwelt-Bibliothek. Among the themes it addressed were escape, eastern European political issues such as those in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and eastern European dissidents.

Securitatea was a quarterly aimed at improving the training of Securitate operative personnel. Its articles were written by Securitate officers for Securitate officers and thus they touched upon practical problems faced during their specific mission of preventing and neutralising any actions that potentially threatened the communist regime. Among the many dangers that were outlined in the pages of the quarterly as undermining “state security” were foreign radio stations, and especially Radio Free Europe (RFE). The article chosen as a featured item of the collection presents under the title “Cu referire la relațiile cetățenilor români cu unele posturi de radio capitaliste” (About the relations of Romanian citizens with some capitalist radio stations) the perspective of the Securitate upon the activity of RFE and evaluates its contribution in providing an alternative source of information for Romanians. In the absence of underground publications, RFE represented the main source of alternative information in communist Romania. Thus, the Securitate regarded RFE and contacts between Romanian citizens and employees of the Romanian desk of this radio station as dangerous to the communist regime. Accordingly, the entire article focuses on revealing how RFE allegedly acts in order to undermine “state security.” Starting from the premise that RFE is the locus “of espionage, ideological diversion, and hostile propaganda,” the anonymous author traces the connection between this radio station and the American espionage machine, namely the CIA. The Central Intelligence Agency was credited with financing RFE and setting its agenda even after the American Congress officially took responsibility for financially supporting its functioning. The control of the CIA over RFE was underlined once again when discussing its organisation. The two management structures in the United States and Europe were allegedly infiltrated by CIA agents who engaged the radio station in their “ungentlemanly” war against communist countries and used it to collect information about them. As a result, the CIA used the microphone of RFE to proffer slanders and shamefully distort the realities of the communist countries, according to the Securitate’s interpretation of the broadcasting of news and other political programmes by this radio station. Even worse from the point of view of the Securitate was that people travelling abroad were an easy prey for “agents” working at the Romanian desk of RFE. After underlining the connection between its director, deputy director, and programme producers with the CIA, the article describes how they allegedly succeeded in manipulating Romanian tourists in order to collect valuable information about the country, its leadership, and the impact of its social and economic policies on the mood of the population. In other cases, they even managed to trick their “victims” and persuade them to emigrate. The narrative of blaming RFE for these “unpatriotic” deeds was an ideologically convenient explanation for the fact that the great majority of Romanians listened to and trusted RFE, in spite of the fact that this might have caused problems. At the same time, such a narrative was meant to highlight the vital role played by the Securitate as a guardian of the communist regime in Romania.

 

Tabló a kézfogás-akcióról a Cseh-szlovák-magyar művészek találkozóján, 1972. augusztus 26-27 (rendezte: Beke László)

A Beke László által szervezett Cseh-szlovák-magyar művészek találkozójának célja az volt, hogy a cseh, szlovák és magyar képzőművészek együttműködése részeként feldolgozásra kerülhessenek a három országot érintő közelmúltbeli 1968-as történések, mindenekelőtt a magyar csapatok Csehszlovákia megszállásában való részvételének problémája. A találkozó részeként sor került a három ország művészei közti kézfogás akcióra, melynek eredménye az Artpool gyűjteményében is megtalálható tablókép lett. Résztvevők többek között: Bak Imre, Peter Bartos, Beke László, Erdély Miklós, Stano Filko, Galántai György, Halász Péter, Hap Béla, Háy Ágnes, Jovánovics György, J. H. Kocman, Legéndy Péter, Méhes László, Pauer Gyula, Vladjimir Popovic, Petr Stembera, Szentjóby Tamás, Türk Péter, Jiri Valoch.

The series of performances by the KwieKulik duo titled “Activities on the Head” was conducted during the “Body Performance” festival at the Labirynt gallery in Lublin in 1978.
As a part of one of the actions, famous for the iconic photo, Przemysław Kwiek washed his face and feet in a bowl in which there was the head of his artistic and life partner, Zofia Kulik, placed there via hole cut in it.
This was not the first time KwieKulik used their own or models’ faces and heads in their actions. In 1971, together with their artist friends they carried out the Game on an Actress’s Face. It was a camera-recorded process visual game. The actress was Ewa Lemańska, widely known to the general public from her role in the highly popular JanosikTV series. The artists, outside the frame made subsequent moves on the face of the actress using visual gestures. Each gesture had to refer to the previous one and be open to the next step. They painted her, put scotch tape and glued crepe paper and colourful sticks, or made small modelling clay sculptures. One of the participants placed a piece of glass between the actress’s teeth and put a lighted cigarette on it. 
The full description of the series of the 1978 performances is available in the 2012 monumental book summarising the activities of KwieKulik:

“In the first part, before entering the hall, the audience was asked to stick small red pennants behind their ears. [...] As they were entering, they saw Kwiek and Kulik with their heads stuck in the seats of two chairs. 
In the second part, Kulik sat on the floor with her head sticking out of the bottom of a bowl. After pouring water into the bowl, Kwiek washed his face, took off his shirt, washed his armpits, and finally took off his shoes and socks, and washed his feet. After that, Kwiek poured more water, so that it covered Kulik’s mouth but not her nose, so she could breathe but could not speak. He then put a sharp tip of a knife against the back of her head and started to shout: “Say something, you whore, come on... you can’t, can you?!” In the third part the audience saw Kwiek and Kulik sitting on the chairs with bins on their heads (there were openings for their heads in the bottoms of the bins). As it was previously arranged, two artists (Janusz Bałdyga na Łukasz Szajna) proceeded to circle around the artists, tossing rubbish into the bins, which they had earlier taken out of a container in the corridor of the gallery.”

The title of this performance was used as the title of a collective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 2015, which present new phenomena in Polish art. The title was used as a general metaphor of “«procedures» for the viewer's head, but also works that use the mind as a tool to «calibrate» what is both visible and invisible around us.”
The still frame with Kwiek washing his face above the bowl with the head of Kulik was also used for the cover of the monograph summarising the activities of the duo.

Źródła: 
KwieKulik. Zofia Kulik & Przemysław Kwiek, eds. Łukasz Ronduda, Georg Schöllhammer, Warsaw/Wrocław/Vienna 2012.

As soon as their son was born, Zofia Kulik and Przemysław Kwiek started “using” him in their artistic experiments.
There are over 900 photographs from the years 1972-1974 where the newborn is composed into spatial-visual settings with everyday objects, most often in the private apartment of the artists. 
On one occasion he is placed in a baking pan circled with a cutlery ornament. Another time he is sitting in a metal bucket in a sink or is looking with keen interest out of the toilet bowl. The artists arrange around their son circles and patterns made of onion, lumps of ice, or the books they are reading at moment (Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations). 
These arrangements often feature the symbol of the communist state, i.e. the red banner. But the images also reveal the material misery of the décor and furnishings, the poverty of the Polish People's Republic, magnified by the material paucity of the hackworking artists.
By writing about the “use of their child in art”, Kwiek and Kulik signalled that they were aware that employing their child as a prop or a component of a work of art was controversial. As one of the contemporary commentators noted, their actions were “equally methodical and instrumental.”
The set-ups of the photographs are by no means incidental. Inspired by academic lectures, the artists wanted to translate the “mathematical and logical operations” to visual actions, and discover methods of doing analogous actions in their own field.
Revealing the poverty of their daily life was also interpreted as related to “the ideological dilemmas o Kwiek and Kulik, whose leftist ideas were too radical for the conformist party apparatus.” The entire project was seen as an attempt to “translate the experience of being a parent, being bound by the bureaucracy, and being an artist at the mercy of «people's» government into the language of art.” (Adam Mazur).

Źródła: 
KwieKulik. Zofia Kulik & Przemysław Kwiek, eds. Łukasz Ronduda, Georg Schöllhammer, Warsaw/Wrocław/Vienna 2012.
Mazur Adam, Kwiekulik, „Działania z Dobromierzem” 1972-1974, Culture.pl, 2015, http://culture.pl/pl/dzielo/kwiekulik-dzialania-z-dobromierzem-1972-1974