International history of the GDR using the example of art policy and exchange with African and Latin American countries
PhD project

My thesis focuses on cultural relations between a constellation of socialist countries during the Cold War: the German Democratic Republic, Cuba and two African socialist countries (Ethiopia and Mozambique). I'm particularly interested in exchanges in the field of plastic and graphic arts from 1959 (the date of the Cuban revolution) to 1990: circulation of art exhibitions, artists' travels and exchange of plastic art students.
My aim is to shed light on the dynamics of solidarity, tensions and rivalries in a far from homogeneous Eastern bloc. The cultural sector, particularly invested by socialist countries during the Cold War, was thus not only a means of defending a worldview and seeking international recognition, but also of highlighting a national specificity within the socialist camp.

During her stay at the ZZF Coline Perron researches on her project in Department I: Communism and Society.