Participatory Arts: Cases of Collaborative Authorship in Latvian Art and the Culture Environment of the 1970s–80s
Andris Grinbergs. The Green Wedding (Zaļās kāzas; alternative title Summertime), 1973, photographer Jānis Kreicbergs. Jānis Zuzāns’s private archive. Courtesy: Jānis Zuzāns.
The article “Participatory Arts: Cases of Collaborative Authorship in Latvian Art and the Culture Environment of the 1970s–80s,” by Laine Kristberga, published in Letonica, vol. 48 (2023), pp. 117–141, focuses on aspects of participatory and collaborative authorship in performative arts. By analyzing the historical shift of emphasis in artistic practices, the author traces the movement from object-based art in traditional disciplines toward process and event-based artistic forms. In the second half of the twentieth century, performative and social turns emerged in methodology and discourse, introducing an increasingly strong social dimension in both art and research. This shift brings forward numerous aesthetic, ethical, communicative, and economic challenges. As a case study, the article examines the activities of informal artist groups in Latvia during the 1970s–80s, paying particular attention to the sociopolitical environment and cultural policy of the period.