Following the River: Towards a “Tidal History” of Performative Artworks in Socialist Yugoslavia

Building on research by scholars who emphasize water’s capacity to challenge predominant epistemological frameworks, this article offers a preliminary step toward constructing a “tidal history” of performative art practices in socialist Yugoslavia which engaged with water. It focuses on the methodological implications of researching and working with water in order to develop a more ecological, relational, and water-responsive research. Moving beyond linear, anthropocentric, and land-based models of knowledge, this contribution identifies three crucial reorientations: first, it proposes ways to engage with the ephemerality of performative works; second, it expands the research framework to acknowledge the interconnectedness of diverse contextual elements and the agency of nonhuman collaborators; and third, it fluidifies conventional notions of space and time by adapting aqueous logics as research methods.