BALTIC WORLDSBALTIC A scholarly journal and news magazine. May 2018. Vol. XI:I. Ivan Iljin, in the lap From the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), Södertörn University. of mother Russia May 2018. Vol. XI:I BALTIC WORLDSbalticworlds.com Rescuing, keeping, and Rescuing, keeping, and moving things. things. moving and keeping, Rescuing, moving things Against Against the Scatter of the World the of Scatter the Against the Scatter of the World also in this issue Illustration: Karin Sunvisson ACTIVISTS IN ALBANIA / ARTISTS IN GDAŃSK SHIPYARD / ARCHITECTS IN LITHUANIA / SCIENTISTS IN THE COLD WAR Sponsored by the Foundation BALTIC2 for Baltic and East European Studies WORLDSbalticworlds.com editorial in this issue Objets out of place rtifacts, objets, are shaped in a cer- Baltic Worlds also presents two tain time and place by (and for) cer- peer-reviewed articles by young tain people. These precious things scholars, both concerning self- tend to take hold of their owners, organized groups, but in rather Aobservers, and users. Their value becomes at- different contexts. In Albania we tached to the meaning and desire they awaken are guided by Gilda Hoxha who to acquire them, keep them, trade them, or investigates the agency and driv- save them. They pass through different hands ers, but foremost the potential Architecture and get moved around. and influence, that social move- in Lithuania In this issue of Baltic Worlds, we dedicate a ments such as self-organized Buildings can and do special section investigating how objets have groups can have in the young evoke various feelings, been transcended, moved, saved, traded, and democracy in Albania. Agnieszka serve different functions, and even stolen from their old places and owners to Kozik, for her part, studies what generate social conflict or social new places and new owners. Why this scatter- happened when the Artists’ “‘harmony’. Page 17 ing of the treasures of the world? Sheer greed, Colony moved into the Gdańsk but also passion, is noted. Nostalgia and hope Shipyard’s abandoned buildings, for an old order to reappear seem to be other and by this challenges the mean- drivers in this shuffling around of artifacts and ing of the place as a memory site objets. Rescuing the past is not entirely a noble for workers and the Solidarity act. Sometimes the artifacts in fact are falsifica- movement in Poland. tions or pure reconstructions. Prominent per- sonas involve themselves in this endless shap- AMONG OTHER contributions, I ing and moving of things. These personas make also would like to highlight the unforeseen alliances and relations, as well as short piece by Magnus Ljunggren their own carriers, based on the world's (and concerning Ivan Ilyn’s character their own) eternal desire for objets. and ideas, which I find both il- It is fascinating and thought-provoking read- luminating and worrisome when The Wende ing collected by guest editors Irina Sandomir- taking into account the presence Museum, LA skaja and Carl Marklund and is intended to set of Illyn in the nation-building of The museum show- off a dialogue on the scattering of the world’s Russia today. ≈ cases art from the former Ninna Mörner Eastern Bloc that operates both treasures. They place their kaleidoscope on Soviet Russia, but — as the phenomenon by all within and far outside the tenets means is a moving target — we also get a piece “of Socialist Realism and juxta- of Congo and other parts of the world in our poses it with contemporary art. sights. Page 77 PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES have undergone a double-blind peer review by at least two independent specialists. A peer-reviewed article published in Baltic Worlds generates one publication point for the authors and their institutions in the Norwegian bibliometric register (DHB). Baltic Worlds is an Open Access Journal and all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. More information is available on our website. contents 3 colophon Baltic Worlds is published by the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) at Södertörn University, Sweden. Editor-in-chief Ninna Mörner Publisher Joakim Ekman Scholarly advisory council theme Thomas Andrén, Södertörn peer-reviewed articles University; Sari Autio-Sarasmo, 4 The Artists’ Colony in the former Aleksanteri Institute, Helsinki Gdańsk Shipyard, Agnieszka Kozik Against the Scatter Universiy; Sofie Bedford, IRES, 25 The Albanian case. The role and of the World Uppsala University; Michael agency among self-organized groups, 41 Introduction. Rescuing, keeping, Gentile, Oslo University; Markus Gilda Hoxha and moving things, Carl Marklund & Huss (chair), Stockholm University; essay Irina Sandomirskaja Katarina Leppänen, University of 17 Architectural discourse and essays Gothenburg; Thomas Lundén, the Lithuanian independency, 43 Imperial scatter. Some personal CBEES, Södetörn University; Arnoldas Stramskas encounters and reflections, Edward Kazimierz Musiał, University of Kasinec Gdańsk; Barbara Törnquist Plewa, commentary Centre for European Studies, Lund 36 Ivan Ilyin. Why is he Kremlin’s 48 Scattering, collecting, and University guiding star?, Magnus Ljunggren scattering again. The invention and management of national Corresponding members reports heritage in the USSR, Irina Aija Lulle, University of Latvia; 38 In search for an all-inclusive Sandomirskaja Michael North, Ernst Moritz dialogue in social science. 53 The Icons of “the Red Banker”. Arndt University Greifswald; Talking with Jean-Louis Fabiani, Olof Aschberg and the transactions Andrzei Nowak, Jagiellonian Ana-Maria Sirghi of social capital, Carl Marklund University, Kraków; Andrea Petö, 77 The Wende Museum of the Cold 58 Christian Brinton: A modernist Central European University, War in Los Angeles. Showing icon. A portrait and a study of the Budapest; Jens E. Olesen, cultural diversity, Maria Brock collector, Mechella Yezernitskaya Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, 80 Nostalgia and stories of loss. The 65 Letters from the Heart of Greifswald; Olga Schihalejev, Hermitage & the Tsarskoe Selo State Darkness. Dr. Ludvig Moberg, Tartu University Museum, Anna Kharkina ethnographic collections, and the Copyediting/proofreading logic of colonial violence, Johan Matthew Hogg, Semantix AB; review Bridget Schäfer 82 IIASA as an East-West bridge Hegardt Layout during the Cold War, Sari Autio- 72 The case of Chief G’psgolox’s Sara Bergfors, Lena Fredriksson, Sarasmo totem pole. “Rescuing”, keeping, and returning, Anders Björklund Serpentin Media Illustrator Karin Sunvisson Subscription Sofia Barlind Printed by Elanders Sverige AB Printed: ISSN 2000-2955 Online: ISSN 2001-7308 Contact Baltic Worlds [email protected] The content expresses the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Baltic Worlds. 4 peer-reviewed article THE ARTISTS’ COLONY IN THE FORMER GDAŃSK by Agnieszka Kozik SHIPYARD peer-reviewed article 5 his article attempts to provide an answer to the ques- tion: What was the Artists’ Colony? I put this ques- tion in the broader context of research, the relations between artists and workers in the area of the former Gdańsk Shipyard, the location of historical events of the Solidar- ity Movement and the fall of communism in Poland, and places where various contemporary art institutions, clusters, and groups of artists have been operating since 2000. The place — the Gdańsk Shipyard — is mythologized in the Polish narration of the process towards democracy and inde- pendency. Before the ethnographic study was conducted, the research design included assumptions about the role of the art- ists in the Gdańsk Shipyard, and the nature of the relationship between artists and shipyard workers. Those assumptions have gradually been subjected to verification and, to a large extent, re- jection. During the research it became obvious that the incorpo- ration of the Gdańsk Shipyard into the national myth has led to the disappearance of reality of the place and it’s “inhabitants”, excluding the contemporary space from the public discourse and visibility. Other research questions become more relevant: what we do not know, or hear about, or speak about, and who’s voices are silence. The reflections will be guided by the words of Pierre Bourdieu: One can, however, ask what exactly does this way of un- derstanding works of art mean? Is it worth losing their charm to explain the works? [...] It seems to me that this realistic view, making the universal, collective enter- prise subject to certain laws, brings comfort and is more — so to speak — human than the faith in the wonderful qualities of creative genius and devotion to pure form.1 abstract This article attempts to provide an answer to the question: What was the Artists Colony in the Gdańsk Shipyard area? For over a decade, artists lived and worked within the Gdańsk Shipyard area, a partially still industrialized area. The article is based on ethnographic field stud- ies oriented to understanding the transformation of the Gdańsk Ship- yard area, as well as the transformation of Polish historical memory and the Polish contemporary art scene. A description of the situation in the post-shipyard area, with its extraordinary dynamics and sym- bolism, evolved into a description of the process of change and the flows of groups of “inhabitants”. Members of the Artists Colony were participants in the transformation processes, regardless of the func- tions they performed in such processes, the intensity of contacts with workers at the Gdańsk Shipyard, or the subject of their artistic works. Artists from the Colony identified the area of the former shipyard as a Gdańsk Shipyard, view from space of their own experience, memory, and history. In terms of post- the side of Gate no. 1 and the colonial theory as well as the theory of revitalization, the artists can be Stocznia Gdańska railway conceived of as a “temporary community” of the post-shipyard areas. station/tram stop, 2012. KEY WORDS: Gdańsk Shipyard, contemporary art, Art Colony, gentrifi- ALL PHOTOS: AGNIESZKA KOZIK cation, transformation, post-colonial theory, post-industrial, field of art.