Revolutionary Romances? Global Art Histories in the GDR looks at East Germany's relations-
rooted in a spirit of friendship and revolution-with its socialist "sister" countries in Asia
Africa and Latin America. The concepts of "international solidarity" and "friendship between
nations" had an inherent geopolitical agenda: as such they not only determined East Germany's
foreign policy but also supported a multitude of transcultural contacts and became a key focus
of propaganda and the visual arts in the GDR. The book accompanying the exhibition of the same
name presents themes and motifs of actual and putative "revolutionary romances" including the
ideals and icons of socialist internationalism artistic protests against war and violence
travel images mail art and works produced by foreign art students in East Germany. Mathias
Wagner is an art historian and conservator at the Albertinum Staatliche Kunstsammlungen
Dresden. Hilke Wagner is an art historian and director of the Albertinum Staatliche Kunst-
sammlungen Dresden. Kerstin Schankweiler is a professor for visual studies in a global context
in the Institute of Art and Music at TUD Dresden University of Technology. Kathleen Reinhardt
is an art historian and director of the Georg Kolbe Museum Berlin.
