Exhibition design as an ideological tool for the socialist propaganda
After taking power, the communist regime in Czechoslovakia used exhibitions as a powerful ideological tool. Those intended for a domestic audience served to educate the new, socialist man and woman, and those for foreign audiences to construct an idealised image of the country. The great success of the Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 58 in Brussels had a decisive impact on the institutionalization and professionalization of a specific discipline výstavnictví (sometimes called the Czechoslovak Exhibition School). This “art of exhibiting” consisted of an attempt to arouse an emotional response in the viewer through a scenographically conceived exposition, in which the key role was played by audiovisual media (Laterna Magika, Kinoautomat, polyecran, diapolyecran, polyvision). In her talk, Terezie Nekvindová will focus on specific examples showing how Czechoslovakia developed and established an approach to using the exhibition medium to represent itself while promoting and fortifying state socialism.
Terezie Nekvindováis an art historian and curator working in the Research Centre at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. In 2014, she received a Ph.D. with her thesis on Czechoslovak Pavilions at Expo 67 in Montreal and Expo 70 in Ósaka. She specializes in modern and contemporary art and focuses on exhibition histories and the history of curating in particular. She is the co-author of “Výstava jako médium. České umění 1957–1999” [The Exhibition as Medium. Czech Art 1957–1999] (with Pavlína Morganová and Dagmar Svatošová, 2020), “Stanislav Kolíbal. Former Uncertain Indicated” (2019, Dieter Bogner and Adam Budak eds.), “Automat na výstavu. Československý pavilon na Expo 67 v Montrealu” [Vending Machine for an Exhibition: The Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal] (with Daniela Kramerová et al., 2017), “Viktor Rudiš – Ósaka” (with Miroslav Masák and Markéta Pražanová, 2011) and others. She has previously taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and Palacký University in Olomouc. Currently, she is part of the Socialist Exhibition Cultures project.
Participation free of charge. Registration not required.
The event is organised in cooperation with the Czech Centre Berlin.
The special exhibition "Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces" is supported by the Kuratorium Preußischer Kulturbesitz and Museum & Location.