14 August 2020

Goodbye, Photomontage?
John Heartfield Online Symposium: www.adk.de

Originally planned as a public event held in conjunction with the John Heartfield exhibition at the Akademie der Künste, due to the current situation the interdisciplinary symposium is taking place exclusively online. Three panels with more than 22 international participants address topical issues and questions derived from a re-examination of select aspects of John Heartfield’s works. The exhibition John Heartfield – Photography plus Dynamite is on view on Pariser Platz until 23 August.

Can we speak of a swan song of photomontage as a classic technique when viewed in terms of digital images, recordings and fake news? Or is the formal principle of deconstruction and construction still continuing with the help of enhanced technical capabilities? What new visual forms are emerging? What has changed in the way images are used politically? Has the proliferation of memes over the past decade become the latest viral montage medium of our times? What role have images of terrorism and other atrocities since the 19th century played on propaganda films and videos up to the present day? And which new artistic forms might have an enlightening impact on our affect-oriented society?

Contributions by:
Azadeh Akhlaghi (Teheran/Melbourne), Damarice Amao (Paris), Adam Broomberg (London/Berlin), Peter Chametzky (Columbia, South Carolina), Kristina Jaspers (Berlin), Sabine Kriebel (Cork, Ireland), Gerd Kroske (Berlin), Anda Kryeziu (Kosovo/Berlin), Boaz Levin (Berlin), Christian Marclay (London), Virginia McBride (New York/New Brunswick, New Jersey), Doreen Mende (Berlin), Philipp Müller (Hamburg), Rithy Panh (Paris/Phnom Penh, Cambodia), Volker Pantenburg (Berlin), Kolja Reichert (Berlin), Alexander Schwarz (Munich), Klaus Speidel (Vienna), Verena Straub (Berlin), Margarita Tupitsyn (New York/Paris), Anette Vowinckel (Potsdam)

The symposium was conceived by Ute Eskildsen and Angela Lammert (Akademie der Künste, Berlin) in cooperation with Charlotte Klonk (Institut für Kunst- und Bildwissenschaften/Humboldt Universität zu Berlin) and Florian Ebner (Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris).

Funded by the Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb)

www.adk.de/heartfield