
Professor Amy Bryzgel
BA, MA, PhD, SFHEA
Personal Chair
- About
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Biography
I am the Head of Cluster of Ethnology & Folklore, Film & Visual Culture and Music.
I am an elected senator for the School of LLMVC, and serve on the Senate Business Committee. I am also an elected Senate Assessor, representing the Arts and Social Sciences on Court.From 2016-2021 I was Director of Postgraduate Studies for the School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture. From 2016-2019, I was the Director of the George Washington Wilson Centre for Visual Culture, for which I designed and launched the VIEW public engagement series. I have previously served as the chair of the Athena SWAN committee in LLMVC.
University Professor Bringing Positivity to Campus
Article in The Gaudie by Zsofia Kiszely, 7 July 2021
Qualifications
- PhD Art History2008 - Rutgers University
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Current Admin Responsibilities
Head of Cluster of Ethnology & Folklore, Film & Visual Culture and Music (2021-present)
Elected member of Senate (2016-2024)
Elected member of Senate Business Committee (2019-present)
Elected Senate Assessor / Member of Court of the University of Aberdeen (Board of Directors)(2022-2023)
Member of the Dignity at Work and Study Committee (2020-present)
Past Admin Responsibilities
Director of Postgraduate Studies, School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture (2016-21)
Director of the GWW Centre for Visual Culture (2016-2019)
Co-Director of the School of LLMVC Athena SWAN Committee (2016-2017)
- External Memberships
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Current external responsibilities
Corpus Mundi editorial board, 2020-present
EEPS (East European Politics and Societies) Advisory Committee, 2020-present
Counselor for the European Postwar & Contemporary Art Forum, 2017-present
Grant reviewer for the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS), 2017-present
Member of AHRC Peer Review College, 2016-present
External Examiner for the Open University, American College in Greece, 2016-2019
Mentor for the Association of Slavic East European and Eurasian Studies, 2015-present
Grant reviewer for Scottish Universities Insight Institute Knowledge Exchange Programme, 2014-present
I have reviewed articles for Art Journal, The Russian Review, Public Art Dialogue, Journal of Baltic Studies, The Third Text, East Central Europe Review, East European Politics and Society and Aspasia: The International Yearbook of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European Women's and Gender History
I have reviewed book proposals for MIT Press, Chicago University Press, Manchester University Press and Transnational Press London
I have been an external tenure reviewer for Syracuse University and the University of Tel Aviv
Past external responsibilities
Director of the Demarco Archive Trust, Ltd., 2016-2018
Elected Board Member and News Editor, SHERA (Society of Historians of East European and Russian Art), 2016.
Latest Publications
Mapping the Emerging Historiographies of Performance Art in East-Central Europe
Reconstructing Performance Art. RoutledgeChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersPerformance Art in East-Central Europe
The Routledge Companion to Performance Art. RoutledgeChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersThe Centre of Performance Art: Galeria Labirynt
Galeria LabiryntChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Performance Art in East-Central Europe: 1960s to the Post-Communist Era
PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 95-105Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/pajj_a_00528
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Galeria Wschodnia. Dokumenty 1984–2017/Documents 1984–2017
Slavic Review, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 451-453Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/slr.2020.115
Prizes and Awards
Principal's Prize for Public Engagement, 2015
Latvian State Cultural Capital Funds award for the writing of the book Miervaldis Polis, 2013
- Research
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Research Overview
My area of specialization is performance art in East-Central Europe.
I wrote the first comprehensive history and analysis of performance art in Central and Eastern Europe, a monograph entitled Performance Art in Eastern Europe since 1960, which was published as part of Manchester University Press's Rethinking Art's Histories series in February 2017. My website, www.performingtheeast.com , documents the research and writing of the book.
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Film and Visual Culture.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Art History
Research Specialisms
- Fine Art
- Performing Arts
- Russian and East European Studies
- Russian and East European Society and Culture
- Creative Arts and Design
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
My current research expands my comparative approach to performance art to include other peripheral performance histories from across the globe. I am also looking at pedagogical approaches to teaching performance art in East-Central Europe.
Past Research
My first book, Performing the East: Performance Art in Russia, Latvia and Poland since 1980, was published in 2013 by IB Tauris. My second book was a monograph on the Latvian painter and performance artist Miervaldis Polis, published by Neputns in Latvia in 2015.
Performance Art in Eastern Europe since 1960
This volume presents the first comprehensive academic study of the history and development of performance art in the former communist countries of Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe since the 1960s. Covering 21 countries and more than 250 artists, this text demonstrates the manner in which performance art in the region developed concurrently with the genre in the West, highlighting the unique contributions of Eastern European artists.
Knowledge Exchange
From 2016-2019 I was Director of the George Washington Wilson Centre for Visual Culture, for which I developed the VIEW Visual Arts and Culture Public Engagement Programme. VIEW offers a range of events related to art and culture, including talks, interviews, screenings, exhibitions, performances and workshops, all of which are free to the public. The programme was awarded funding from the Aberdeen City Council and the University of Aberdeen Development Trust.
From 2014--2016 I hosted a range of performance events in the Northeast of Scotland, as part of my AHRC-funded research project, Performance Art in Eastern Europe. These included performances by Bozidar Jurjevic, Branko Miliskovic and Richard Demarco at the University of Aberdeen; and Tanja Ostojic and Karolina Kubik in Aberdeen and Perth.
Collaborations
I am part of the Mapping Performance Art Histories research group run by Heike Roms and Dror Harari, which looks at so-called 'peripheral' performance art histories from around the globe.
In 2014, I co-edited a special edition of Centropa: Journal of East European Art History and Architecture with Dr. Pavlina Morganova, with articles by scholars from the region on the development of performance art in Eastern Europe.
Supervision
My current supervision areas are: Film and Visual Culture.
Completed PhD students:
Keava McMillan (2017)
Denisa Tomkova (2019)
Jasmina Zaloznik (2020)
Camilla Salvaneschi (2021)
Current PhD students:
Peter Tuka (2020-), University of Glasgow School of Culture & Creative Arts (co-supervisor) - SGSAH-funded
Dorothé Orczyk (2021-)
SiaÌn Mitchell MacGregor (2021-) AHRC/SGSAH CDA in collaboration with Imaginate: "Valuing Young Audiences"
Joanna Mardal (2021-), University of Utrecht (second supervisor)
Visiting PhD students
Liis Kibuspuu (Spring 2017)
Barbara Barreiro-Leon (2017-2020)
Víctor Ramírez (Spring 2018)
Supervisees
- MS EIMEAR KINSELLA
- MS DOROTHE ORCZYK
- MRS SIAN MACGREGOR
Funding and Grants
Total research grant income since 2009: £207,174
- 2022 University of Aberdeen Pump Prime Funding for research and Research Networks
- 2018 Aberdeen City Council Creative Funding for the George Washington Wilson Centre for Visual Culture VIEW Visual Arts and Culture Programme
- 2018 Development Trust Funding for the George Washington Wilson Centre for Visual Culture
- 2016 Principal's Prize for Public Engagement (Senior Category)
- 2015 Scottish Crucible Participant
- 2014 AHRC Early Career Fellowship (AH/M005585/1)
- 2013 Leverhulme Research Fellowship
- 2013 Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies Emerging Scholars Research Grant
- 2012 Royal Society of Edinburgh CRF Visiting Research Fellowship
- 2012 Royal Society of Edinburgh Small Research Grant
- 2012 Carnegie Trust Research Grant
- 2012 Royal Society of Edinburgh Bilateral Exchange Grant: Slovak Academy of Sciences
- 2012 Royal Society of Edinburgh Bilateral Exchange Grant: Hungarian Academy of Sciences
- 2011 Latvian State Culture Capital Fund for the writing of a monograph on Miervaldis Polis
- 2011 Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies Emerging Scholars Research Grant
- 2011 Royal Society of Edinburgh Bilateral Exchange Grant: Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
- 2010 Carnegie Trust Illustration Grant
- 2010 British Academy Small Research Grant
- 2009 Carnegie Trust Research Grant
- 2009 British Academy Overseas Conference Travel Grant
PhD Funding
- 2007-2008 Rutgers University Mary Bartlet Cowdrey Dissertation Fellowship (partial award)
- 2005-2006 Rutgers University Dodge Graduate Assistantship
- 2005 The Kosciuszko Foundation Graduate Study and Research Grant
- 2004-2005 J. William Fulbright Award for independent research in Latvia
- 2004 American Council of Learned Societies Language Training Grant for study in Latvia
- 2004 Rutgers University Mary Bartlet Cowdrey Dissertation Grant
- 2002-2004 Rutgers University Dodge Graduate Assistantship
- Teaching
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Programmes
- Undergraduate, 4 year, September start
- Postgraduate, 3 semester, September start
- Postgraduate, 3 semester, January start
Teaching Responsibilities
I teach courses on performance art, postmodern and contemporary art—all with a focus on Eastern Europe—and a course on 20th century Russian art.
I welcome inquiries from prospective PhD students who would like to pursue a research project on a topic related to contemporary art in Eastern Europe, in particular performance art, participatory art or socially engaged art.
Please see this video I made about how I teach performance art on campus at the University of Aberdeen:
Non-course Teaching Responsibilities
Personal Tutor
- Publications
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Mapping the Emerging Historiographies of Performance Art in East-Central Europe
Reconstructing Performance Art. RoutledgeChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersPerformance Art in East-Central Europe
The Routledge Companion to Performance Art. RoutledgeChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: ChaptersThe Centre of Performance Art: Galeria Labirynt
Galeria LabiryntChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)Performance Art in East-Central Europe: 1960s to the Post-Communist Era
PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 95-105Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/pajj_a_00528
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
Galeria Wschodnia. Dokumenty 1984–2017/Documents 1984–2017
Slavic Review, vol. 79, no. 2, pp. 451-453Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/slr.2020.115
Networking the Bloc: Experimental Art in Eastern Europe 1965–1981: By Klara Kemp-Welch
The Burlington Magazine, vol. 162, no. 1403Contributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesVessela Nozharova, ‘Introduction to Bulgarian Contemporary Art 1982–2015’: Book Review
The Third TextContributions to Journals: Reviews of Books, Films and ArticlesBlurring the Boundaries: Perception, Reality, Performance—between the Concept and the Personal in the work of Ludmila Popiel and Jerzy Fedorowicz
Ludmila Popiel and Jerzy Fedorowicz (exhibition catalogue). Fundacja ArtonChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] http://www.fundacjaarton.pl/?a=1
Egle Rakauskaite
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Entries for Encyclopedias and DictionariesThe Methods and Meanings of Performance Art in Central and Eastern Europe
Institute of the PresentContributions to Journals: Articles