Free and open to the public.

Join the UB Humanities Institute for the first Scholars@Hallwalls talk of the 2017-18 year. All talks begin at 4pm with complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres.

The last two decades of Yugoslav socialism produced some of the most politicized and radical artistic experimentation in the Balkan region, which situated questions of sexuality, art, and power within the artist’s body and probed its relationship to the authority of the state. Focusing on Yugoslav artists’ embrace of taboo desires, Tumbas argues that these artists’ emphases on sexuality were predicated on a particular politicization under Yugoslavia’s unique brand of socialism, offering insights into the long-standing conundrum: just what was it that made Marshal Tito’s Yugoslavia so different, so appealing?

Jasmina Tumbas, Assistant Professor in the Department of Art, holds a Ph.D. from Duke University and teaches courses on modern and contemporary art and theory, histories and theories of performance, body and conceptual art, art and activism, and feminist art. Her research focuses on performance and conceptual art in former Yugoslavia, as well as contemporary activist art practices by artists of Romani descent in the Balkan region. As a fellow, Tumbas will be working on the book project, The Erotics of Dictatorship: Art, Sex, and Politics under Yugoslav Socialism.

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