Between the Myth and History: Black Market International 1985-2012

The objective of this article is to introduce the principles and history of Black Market (referred to as BM), founded in 1985 as a method of collaborative work in the area of performance art. Since the beginning, they have refused hierarchical group identity, focusing just on creating conditions for meetings of artists. They developed their individual performances in cooperation with other artists who were engaged in BM in the form of open network. Now, after nearly 30 years of BM existence, the question has come up for discussion: how actually can their ephemeral performances be retrospectively understood? It is becoming clear that, apart from the description of BM history, thorough comprehension and theoretical reflection of its creative principles is important so as to define BM in broader theoretical and historical context.