University of Edinburgh

Arts and Politics: The Role of Art in Cold War Diplomacy in US-Yugoslav Relations 1948 - 1989

Academic History:

2010 - 2014: History of Art and Architectural History (MA Hons), University of Edinburgh

2015 - 2016: History of Art (MSc by Research), University of Edinburgh

2017 - 2020: PhD in History of Art, University of Edinburgh

Supervisors:

Dr Claudia Hopkins, University of Edinburgh

Professor David Hopkins, University of Glasgow

Dr Vladimir Unkovski-Korica, University of Glasgow

Research Interests:

• The role of art in US-Yugoslav relations during the Cold War period
• The reception of modern US art in Western and Eastern Europe
• The "Americanisation" of Europe and American cultural imperialism

Previous Research Projects:

My MSc analysed the cultural relations between the US and former Yugoslavia during the early Cold War period (late 1940s to mid-1960s), focusing on the reception of US art through the major exhibitions (mostly Abstract Expressionism, Neo-Dada, Pop art). My MSc Dissertation “Cultural Encounters and Cultural Conflicts: Rauschenberg in Yugoslavia and Yugoslav Art in the US” analysed Yugoslav responses to Robert Rauschenberg/Neo-Dada in greater depth and Yugoslav strategies in promoting their art in the US and American responses to it (Supervisors were Dr Claudia Hopkins and Dr Igor Štiks).

I participated in a collaborative research and publication project “US Art in European Art Writing in the Cold War Era,” an initiative of the editors of Art in Translation at ECA, supported by the Terra Foundation (www.usartineurope.eca.ed.ac.uk). I recommended key Yugoslav texts for this project and will make further contributions during my PhD on the Yugoslav context of the European reception of US art.

Scholarships:

AHRC DTP Scotland Studentship

Awards:

In October 2015, I was awarded a PRE Fund travel grant at ECA, which enabled me to visit the main archives in Serbia in winter 2015.

Publications:

I presented a paper on the “Art as Cultural Diplomacy” panel at the International Euroacademia Conference Re-Inventing Eastern Europe (Belgrade, January 2017) and my paper is due to be published in their book by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Contact Details:

Address: Edinburgh College of Art, 74 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh EH3 9DF

Email: s.djokic@sms.ed.ac.uk

First published: 25 September 2017