Never Look at Images Alone

(Nicht nur die Bilder sehen)
The rise of right-wing populism has not happened despite the media but because the active agents within the broad coalition that makes up this populist movement (from Britain First to the GOP) have so effectively engaged with cultural production in all its diverse and most contemporary forms. The cultural field is now the battlefield and we are all on the front-line.

How do we, as image-makers, thinkers and activists, adapt to the new rules of engagement and the new sense of urgency?

The right-wing populist movement have co-opted the language of the avant-garde, a language that has always believed in the radicality of art to actually change the structure of society.They co-opted it and used it as cheap anti-authoritarian sound-bites to win votes.

It is time to reclaim that language but never to compromise it’s complexity. There can be no such thing as a populist left. The only thing we have to hang on to is our understanding of the complexity of every situation and also our sense of humour. These are the ground rules of any images we make, words we use and the platforms we engage to distribute them.

Adam Broomberg will explore these issues through a number of projects Broomberg & Chanarin have produced over the past 18 years of their collaboration.