Cultural diplomacy of non-aligned Yugoslavia: Reflections of a forgotten heritage

Abstract

Cultural diplomacy of Yugoslavia 1945-1991 is often represented through its socialist, European or westernization aspects. However, one specific characteristic of this multinational federation is often overlooked. Non-alignment was the main axis of the Yugoslav foriegn policy from c. 1956 to 1989. This foreign policy doctrine made possible a wide array of networks to be formed with the newly liberated post-colonial states of Africa, Asia and Latin America. This paper presents a short history of these networks. The given examples present Yugoslav-African cooperation in the fields of museology, literature, artistic and intellectual exchange, exhibitions and institutions created based on this cooperation - such as the Museum of African Art in Belgrade. Yugoslavia was very present on the African continent and signed official cultural cooperation treaties with over 30 of its nation states. Belgrade and the rest of the Yugoslav federation was extremly receptive of initiatives from the non-aligned and, to the limits of their infrastructural and financial possibilities, supported them. The specificities of socialist Yugoslavia, however, made possible for a decentralization of cultural cooperation. The paper also examines the most recent interpretations of Non-Aligned heritage and history in lieu of events following the 60th anniversary of the Belgrade Conference and the Jubilee Conference of the Non-Aligned (Belgrade, October 2021). A special emphasis is placed upon the analysis of two exhibitions - The Non-Aligned World in the Museum of African Art, and the Prometheans of the New Century in the Museum of Yugoslavia. The last part of the text elaborates on the renewal of these old trends of cooperation and gives some thought to the reach and possiblities of cultural diplomacy in the post-colonial space of Africa, Asia and Latin America, highlighting recent examples from the Republic of Serbia and its neighbours. In a globalised world and with Serbia rapidly forming partners on all continents, these links should be re-examined and renewed.