Image and propaganda

Participants of the interdisciplinary discussion Image and Propaganda will turn to image (photograph, graphic image, work of visual art etc.) as an instrument conveying a specific message, exploring intentional or accidental formation of its identities and meanings within the framework of certain discourses. The participants of the discussion will reflect about the practices and trends over the past century and today, aiming to identify current and generalisable characteristics in the use of image as an instrument of visual communication and ideology in art, social media and other zones of public space.

The participants of the discussion will include art historian Ramona Umblija, who has researched poster art, including works of the Constructivists in the context of socialist propaganda at the beginning of the 20th century; art historian and visual anthropologist Laine Kristberga, who will offer a look back at the ideological construction of Homo Sovieticus in performance documentation of the 1970s; communication researcher Ilva Skulte, who will share her perspective on the use of image as a tool of communication in contemporary technologies; historian Kaspars Zellis, who has studied the phenomenon of propaganda in the context of Nazi-occupied Latvia, and political scientist Ivars Ījabs.

The subject will be examined from the perspectives of art history, philosophy, politics, history, communication studies and other humanities fields.

Participants: Ivars Ījabs (LV), Laine Kristberga (LV), Ilva Skulte (LV), Ramona Umblija (LV), Kaspars Zellis (LV)

Moderator: Ilmārs Šlāpins (LV)

Curator: Elīna Ķempele (LV)

Organizer: Riga Photography Biennial in cooperation with the Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council, Riga Art Space, Satori and lsm.lv

Image: Gustavs Klucis (1895-1938). On the front of socialist construction. Design for poster. 1927–1928. Collection of Latvian National Museum of Art. Photo: Normunds Brasliņš.