Curating Socialism. A Handbook of International Art Exhibitions 1947–1989

Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2026.

Nefedova O.

Academic editor: S. Spieker, P. Savage, B. Videkanić, C. d’Anca

Curating Socialism is the first handbook of its kind to examine international art exhibitions organized by socialist states across the globe, examining the mechanisms, relationships, and international agreements that enabled their organization, and shedding light on the highly diverse art practices they presented.

Curating Socialism takes a rare look into the world of international art exhibitions organized by socialist states between 1947-1989.

The handbook examines the mechanisms, relationships, and international agreements that enabled the organization of officially sponsored and state-organized art exhibitions after the Second World War. Apart from viewing such exhibitions as instances of Cold War diplomacy and propaganda, this book proposes a shift in the way readers view the Cold War, away from an emphasis on separation and opposition to a focus on cultural exchange and international solidarity. Throughout the book, art historians and visual culture experts provide contextual information about the main institutional actors who were responsible for organizing these exhibitions, and the personal as well as institutional or diplomatic channels involved in their hosting and curation. Despite their many differences, the shows explored in this book gesture to the notion of a socialist curatorial aesthetic in the shadow of the Cold War.

Curating Socialism demonstrates how socialist exhibition culture developed, sometimes competing with, and sometimes cooperating with Western art worlds.

Chapters

Iraqi Art Exhibition: State Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow, 21 July–20 August 1959

Nefedova O., , in: Curating Socialism. A Handbook of International Art Exhibitions 1947–1989.: Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2026. Ch. 12 P. 131–139.

Improved political relations between the USSR and Iraq at the end of 1950s were followed by dynamic growth in their cultural connections. Collaboration between the two countries began immediately after the 14 July Revolution in Iraq, also known as the 1958 coup d’état, which resulted in the overthrow of the pro-British Hashemite monarchy and the establishment of the Iraqi Republic.1 ...

Added: June 2, 2026

"Pablo Picasso": Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, 26 October–Mid-November 1956

Chunikhin K., , in: Curating Socialism. A Handbook of International Art Exhibitions 1947–1989.: Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2026. Ch. 8 P. 93–102.

This chapter examines the history of Picasso 1956 exhibiton in the USSR. ...

Added: September 10, 2026

Keywords: выставки, curating exhibitions, history of 20th Century, искусство 20 века