Viviana Iacob
Viviana Iacob is a theatre historian. Her work relies on interdisciplinary methodologies and a trans-regional reading of Eastern European theatre during the post-1945 period. Her research focuses on the history of international theatre organisations and their role in the globalisation of state socialist cultures. Between May 2020 and July 2022, she was researched under a Humboldt fellowship. The grant gave her the opportunity to write a monograph that explores the trajectories of Eastern European theatre experts in international organisations. It highlights North-East-South connections and networks that these practitioners created during the Cold War.
Alternative Theatre Globalizations: Internationalizing Illiberal Regimes since the late 1970s
Her project re-historicises the relationship between globalisation and theatre by analysing the practices of internationalisation and cultural diplomacy deployed by illiberal regimes before and after 1989. The project identifies trans-regional dis:connections that differ from those converging on or emerging from the West. The research combines the study of late-Cold War globalisation processes with a focus on international theatre organisations. By highlighting alternative globalities, the project addresses patterns of integration and disintegration that have been marginalised by entrenched Western-centric discourses on recent histories of theatre.
Find out more about the workshop Viviana organized during her fellowship.