Enacting populism: On the transformations of myths

Populism, as we know it, has become a dominant political topic since its slow but growing appearance in several European countries. In a typical post-political climate namely consensus politics has replaced the former ideological agonistic space of democracy and consequently filled the lack of belief in democracy and its possibilities. This has given way to the rise of a popular frustration which powerfully is articulated by demagogues and those who understand how to move the space of politics slowly from being representative to an open play with its representation in the media instead.

But populism also has a dimension inherent to any democratic regime. In this regard it is a mistake to see the visual strategies that are used every day in the media in order to create cheap and fictional feelings of belonging only as a completely negative symptom of our times. At the same time, material can easily be deconstructed and by this offers clearer visions on how democracy looks like today.

The enacting of populism makes visible how aesthetic strategies are part of the creation of hegemonic powers. At the same time, it enables artistic practices to interfere with the media scape in order to have an impact on the contemporary imagery on politics. We are in need of new, positive and emancipatory myths that can act against the bad mythologies that surround us.

Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Luigi Coppola
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Omer Krieger
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Chantal Mouffe
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Lisl Ponger
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: WochenKlausur
Mitwirkende / Mitwirkender: Matteo Lucchetti