Sub supraveghere (artistică): relaţia artiştilor cu Securitatea

Abstract

This article presents the relation of East European artists with the Secret Police institutions. While focused on the Romanian case, several examples from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria help place the topic in a regional context. The analysis includes both the viewpoint of the Secret Police on the artistic world as such, as well as the gazes of artists on the reality of their time. The conceptualization of artistic surveillance includes three types of examples: the deconstruction of the officially fabricated reality, the focus on the details of the everyday life forbidden by official propaganda, and the reflection of artists on the secret police apparatus. The conclusions of this study show that the investigation of artistic artifacts together with the secret police archives can help bring a new perspective on the limits of domination exerted by the communist regime.