Feminism in the Time of Transformation. Piotr Piotrowski, Zofia Kulik and the Development of Feminist Art History in Poland

Abstract

This article is an analysis of one area of Piotr Piotrowski’s (1952–2015) activity in the 1990s – his writings on the art of Zofia Kulik and, more specifically, on its feminist dimension. I argue that although Piotrowski was never interested in women’s art in particular, not only did he practise feminist criticism during this period, but he was also a catalyst for the development of a specific form of feminist reflection that was then new in Polish art history. It focused on power relations and did not accept distancing oneself from social and political problems. I analyse it from the perspective of contemporary revisions of the development of feminist discourse after 1989 in Eastern Europe, which critically examines its embeddedness in Western ideas.

Keywords

• Piotr Piotrowski
• Zofia Kulik
• feminism
• post-communism
• feminist art history
• women’s art