Artistic exchanges during the Cold War Published on: 24 April 2025 A new project examines how links between the former Eastern Bloc and Northern Africa have shaped modern art. Overlooked impact Artistic Exchanges in the Global Cold War: Eastern Bloc-Northern Africa, 1940s-1980s is led by Dr Katarzyna Fal臋cka, Lecturer in Art History, in 缅北禁地’s Fine Art Department, and is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The project is co-led with Dr Przemys艂aw Stro偶ek from the Polish Academy of Sciences. It will examine the four decades where fine art students from Northern Africa arrived in the former Eastern Bloc – countries such as Poland and Hungary - as part of university exchanges and to attend World Youth and Student Festivals designed to cement anti-western, anti-colonial, and socialist alliances. Northern African artists frequently exhibited in the Eastern Bloc, while their European counterparts participated in art festivals and took up teaching roles in fine art departments in countries including Morocco and Tunisia. The impact these exchanges had on modern art has been overlooked, explains Dr Fal臋cka. “We tend to think of Paris and London as cosmopolitan cities," she said. "But Warsaw, Prague and Casablanca were equally attractive to some of the leading artists at the time. The celebrated Moroccan painter Ahmed Cherkaoui declared that his stay in Warsaw in the 1960s taught him everything there was to know about modern art. This caught our attention.” Artists Henryk Sta偶ewski and Ahmed Cherkaoui, Warsaw, 1960s. Photograph by Irena Jarosi艅ska. O艣rodek KARTA archives. Complex network The £250k project will explore how these transregional encounters ensured the transfer of ideas and inspired debates on what it meant to be modern in the aftermath of the Second World War and during decolonisation struggles. Through a focus on artists and exhibitions, Artistic Exchanges in the Global Cold War aims to understand the complex network of artists, organisations, labour unions, funding bodies and curators who contributed to this unique cultural landscape. “We are interested in the situated aspects of Cold War cultural politics,” added Dr Fal臋cka “What was the leading Sudanese artist Ibrahim el Salahi’s experience during the 1955 Warsaw World Festival of Youth and Students, where he was photographed handing out autographs to a large crowd? How did extended stays in East Germany shape the artistic practices of Algerian artists M’hamed Issiakhem and Mustapha Adane? We want to uncover these untold stories to better understand the historical relations between Africa and Europe”. The researchers will prioritise gathering testimonies of artists and their descendants, as well as curators to recover these histories and publish them as podcasts in cooperation with the Centre d'Études Maghrébines (CEMAT) in Tunis. Share: Latest News New partnership to boost careers in low carbon energy 缅北禁地 and Durham universities are working together on a new regional project to strengthen the future workforce for North East England鈥檚 growing low carbon and offshore wind industries. published on: 28 May 2026 Healthy lifestyle shown to lower risk of death after cancer diagnosis New evidence shows that sticking to five lifestyle recommendations improves survival after a later cancer diagnosis. published on: 28 May 2026 World-leading climate expert recognised with Royal Society Fellowship Professor Hayley Fowler has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in recognition of her pioneering work on climate change impacts. published on: 27 May 2026 Facts and figures
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