The exhibition A Complicated Relation that took place at Index and Kalmar Konstmuseum during the autumn of 2011 presented art from what was formerly known as Eastern Europe. Instead of aiming at a general overview, the exhibition focused on artistic practices developed in the 1970s by a selection of important artists, whose work could be viewed as a reaction to a complicated relation to the society in which they were living and working.

When the wall fell, Western Europe as a figure of thought dissolved, but the concept of the former East still continues to influence our idea of Europe. This delay in our mode of thinking also has an effect on the field of art.