Introduction; Yugoslav Hauntologies

In this introductory essay, the editors trace the specific contours of Yugoslav hauntings of the late capitalist present, with reference to contemporary art practices in the post-Yugoslav space. Drawing on discursive histories of Yugonostalgia, contemporary debates that problematize Yugofuturisms, and the contentious geopolitical forces informing the production and consumption of contemporary art, the editors set out a broad terrain of engagements with the hauntological that address unevenly inherited artistic legacies and burdens following the disintegration of socialist Yugoslavia. The editors introduce ideas from Ozren Pupovac, Sara Ahmed, Giorgio Agamben, Zdenka Badinovac, Mark Fisher, Mitija Velikonja, Nataša Kovačević, Ana Vujanović and Bojana Cvejić, Piro Rexhepi, and Dubravka Ugrešić, among others, to argue for a hauntological engagement with the history and re-examination of socialist Yugoslavia in contemporary art.