A neoavantgárd (kelet-közép-európai tükörben) – Helikon Magazine Presentation

Issue 2/2025 of Helikon summarizes recent neo-avant-garde research and concepts and, through examples and case studies, demonstrates their scope and effectiveness in practice.

The introduction revives the largely familiar debate surrounding the phenomenon of the neo-avant-garde (to what extent can the neo-avant-garde be considered an independent movement representing genuine value?), while the main body of the issue presents the Central and Eastern European context and the works (and lives) that emerged from this milieu.

These are of interest not only because of their proximity, but also because they often challenge some of the negative values of Bürger's concept of the neo-avant-garde. In this particular context, it cannot be argued that the activities of the neo-avant-gardists did not constitute rebellion, that in many cases they did not have political stakes, that they committed only aesthetic transgressions, thus institutionalizing art with the acquiescence of the public. In the socialist milieu, the political weight of the actions was certainly doubled in feminist-style performances, photographs, and textual artistic achievements.