2019
Workshop: Artistic Organizational Practices

DATA OF INTEREST

GUEST:
Jonas Staal


Synopsis:

For the second of two workshops centered around dismantling the structures of cultural institutions, Dutch visual artist Jonas Staal brought his training in the analysis of the relationship between art, propaganda, and democracy to Havana. Staal is the co-director, along with Florian Malzacher, of Training for the Future (2018-present), a utopian training camp, and the founder of several initiatives to comprehend propaganda art in the post-truth era, as well as the creative process to channel a new type of propaganda art for liberation.

Staal demonstrates how the widespread dissemination has functioned within both totalitarian regimes as well as liberal democracies. He supports his thesis through the analysis of different historical forms of propaganda art, from the vanguard to the modern era, and he researches the "us versus them" dichotomy promoted by war and its ensuing terror. He discusses the artistic and cultural production that is coming out of massive popular movements in the 21st century, including protests by undocumented people and the Occupy movement, as well as the struggles for national liberation and self-determination in countries like Mali and Syria.

The starting point of the workshop was a historical and contemporary understanding of propaganda art, whether within authoritarian or emancipatory structures of political power. The group set and achieved its goal of collectively studying and discussing strategies for experimental propaganda art. Both of the presenters managed to break out of the theoretical frameworks of their academic research to engage the workshop participants who were interested both in applying identity resources associated with propaganda as well as skills for the widespread dissemination of this and other existing agendas. Together we aimed to understand how to mold institutions according to the civic role they play.

Bio:

Jonas Staal is a Dutch visual artist whose work deals with the relationship between art, propaganda, and democracy. He is the founder of the artistic and political organization New World Summit (2012-present) and the New Unions campaign (2016-ongoing). Together with BAK basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, he founded the New World Academy (2013-2016), and together with Florian Malzacher he co-directs the utopian training camp Training for the Future (2018-present) at the Ruhrtriennale festival (Germany).

His recent exhibitions and projects include Art of the Stateless State (Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, 2015), After Europe (State of Concept, Athens, 2016), The Scottish-European Parliament (CCA, Glasgow, 2018), and Museum as Parliament (with the Democratic Self-Administration of Rojava, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 2018-present). His projects have been exhibited widely at venues such as the 7th Berlin Biennale (2012), the 31st São Paulo Biennale (2014), the Oslo Architecture Triennale (2016), and the Göteborg International Biennial (2017).

His recent publications and catalogues include Nosso Lar, Brasília (Jap Sam Books, 2014), Stateless Democracy (with co-editors Dilar Dirik and Renée In der Maur, BAK, 2015), and Steve Bannon: A Propaganda Retrospective (Het Nieuwe Instituut, 2018). His book, Propaganda Art in the 21st Century, was published by MIT Press in the fall of 2019. Staal completed his PhD research on propaganda art at the PhDArts program of Leiden University, the Netherlands.