The Aesthetics Of Dictatorship

Dictatorships frequently use art and culture as propaganda to create cults of personality and maintain legitimacy. The totalitarian aesthetic is familiar to many of us from films and documentaries of the Soviet Union or Nazi Germany: tanks driving down wide boulevards; paintings of toiling workers; military uniforms laden with medals; and films depicting past glories. But for billions of people who continue to live under authoritarian regimes, these images and experiences continue to be a part of everyday life. Recorded at SXSW 2022, this panel discussion explores how dictators co-opt cultural institutions with visual propaganda, using dress, art, film, and architecture to instill fear, impose their vision of society, and reinforce their authoritarian regimes. Guests include Louisa Lim, award-winning author, journalist, and former correspondent at BBC’s Beijing Desk and NPR from Hong Kong; Peter Pomerantsev, Senior Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University; and Alexander Sikorski, Policy Officer at HRF.