Workshop leaders: (not yet confirmed), Jari Goerlandt and Nas De Spiegeleer
From paintings to cartoons, from performance art to temporary (landscape) installations, art is one of those things in which people can express their feelings in the most divergent ways. It should not be a surprise that many artists found various new ways of expressing themselves in the very strong unprecedented feelings that the atrocities of the First World War brought along. The fact that this was the first conflict in which photography played a big role, strongly enhanced these traumatic feelings. Photography started to play a bigger role not only in the warfare and war tactics, but also in many aspects of our society, in the media and eventually it also became a form of art on its own. Mass photography and photojournalism made this war truly visual and influenced our ideas and collective memory about the war in a very decisive way.
In this workshop we want to focus not only on the importance of art and visual culture during the Great War, but also on its echo on our current idea of this war and warfare in general. How did the war influence the artistic values of that period (for example, we will discuss less known figures like the Italian Maciste) and how did art eventually influence the outcome of the war? The best example for this last question might be the world-famous recruiting poster of Uncle Sam (1916-1917) asking to enlist in the U.S. army. Its influence was undeniably gigantic during the last year of the war, but even up to today, Uncle Sam is a strong American symbol of patriotism. This brings us to our next topic, which is symbolism. In which ways are symbols being used and produced by artists and societies to shape the visual culture and the memory about the war? The use of poppies by the British people is one of the best examples of strong war memorial symbolism.
Art might also be one of the best ways to give new impulses to our process of remembrance. New artists and new methods of producing art create new insights and different feelings about warfare. The centennial memorial of the First World War has provided a platform for many Belgian artists to speak to the public and to try to revive the memory of the war. How do they do that 100 years later, which goals do they have and how do they try to reach those goals in their art?
During the day trip to Ypres, we will visit the landscape installation art project “Coming World Remember Me”. More information about its meaning will be given during the visit.
In this workshop we want to focus not only on the importance of art and visual culture during the Great War, but also on its echo on our current idea of this war and warfare in general. How did the war influence the artistic values of that period (for example, we will discuss less known figures like the Italian Maciste) and how did art eventually influence the outcome of the war? The best example for this last question might be the world-famous recruiting poster of Uncle Sam (1916-1917) asking to enlist in the U.S. army. Its influence was undeniably gigantic during the last year of the war, but even up to today, Uncle Sam is a strong American symbol of patriotism. This brings us to our next topic, which is symbolism. In which ways are symbols being used and produced by artists and societies to shape the visual culture and the memory about the war? The use of poppies by the British people is one of the best examples of strong war memorial symbolism.
Art might also be one of the best ways to give new impulses to our process of remembrance. New artists and new methods of producing art create new insights and different feelings about warfare. The centennial memorial of the First World War has provided a platform for many Belgian artists to speak to the public and to try to revive the memory of the war. How do they do that 100 years later, which goals do they have and how do they try to reach those goals in their art?
During the day trip to Ypres, we will visit the landscape installation art project “Coming World Remember Me”. More information about its meaning will be given during the visit.
Unfortunately, we couldn't arrange a specialist for this workshop yet. Many artists have full agendas and will be too busy during our seminar to cooperate with us, so now we're looking further into our possibilities. Luckily we have an extra workshop leader for this specific workshop, so Jari and Nas are preparing it perfectly for now. Everything will be arranged before we send out our workshop information e-mails. Come back to this page within a few weeks to find out who the third workshop leader will be.
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Jari Goerlandt studies History at the University of Ghent and recently spent a semester at the University of Bologna as part of the Erasmus programme. He has a strong passion for (visual) culture, music, history and travelling, which makes him the perfect person to lead this ISHA workshop. The fact that he is particularly interested in the Great War and wrote his final bachelor's paper about masculinity and sexuality during the war, just adds to that. Even more, his already strong international attitude provides the best possible medium to discuss the Great War and its artistic resonance with the workshop participants.
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Nas De Spiegeleer is not only one of the two main coordinators for our seminar, he will also help with the preparations for this specific workshop. Just like Jari, he spent a semester abroad last year (in Lisbon) and will now start his Master's degree in History. His strong interest in the First World War and in the topic of this particular workshop becomes clear when you know that he studied World War 1 cartoons for his final bachelor's paper.
As some of you already know, Nas has already tasted the ISHA-experience when he participated in the New Year's Seminar 2018 in Zagreb. You don't want to miss out on his superb international presence and his great charisma, do you? |