Steve Bannon: A Propaganda RetrospectiveSteve Bannon: A Propaganda Retrospective

Het Nieuwe Instituut invited Dutch artist Jonas Staal to analyze and reflect upon the mechanisms of contemporary propaganda art. The result of this collaboration is an exhibition project that is the first retrospective of the films and cultural and political work of Stephen K. (Steve) Bannon. With this exhibition project Het Nieuwe Instituut publicly addresses some of the most pressing questions affecting contemporary society, in which art, design, architecture and digital culture play a key role. Staal's artistic practice and long-term research on contemporary propaganda art serve as a guide to navigating, understanding and reacting to the major impact of propaganda art on contemporary democratic societies. As Staal suggests, the alt-right is not simply a political movement, but is above all a cultural one, that permeates the larger realm of media and popular discourse.

In Staal's perspective, Bannon's work serves as a crucial example of the major impact of propoganda art on contemporary democratic societies, and one that is not exclusive to the United States. In his view institutions have the responsibility to address contemporary challenges and critically discuss cultural practices and their consequences for society. The ambition of Steve Bannon: A Propaganda Retrospective is to present a vision of the effects of the visual and ideological architecture of the alt-right to a broader audience in order to open spaces and opportunities for critique and resistance. Steve Bannon: A Propaganda Retrospective is curated by Het Nieuwe Instituut's Director of Research Marina Otero Verzier.

In addition to the exhibition project, a series of publications and public events will serve to expand and continue the debate on the role of art in inspiring and disseminating political ideologies, as well as in imagining and shaping new realities.

The exhibition is on show as part of the exhibition _The Alt-Right Complex_ at HMKV in Dortmund from 3 March to 22 September 2019. This international group exhibition shows the work of sixteen artists from twelve countries, whose work explores forms of right-wing populism.

From 26 April to 26 May 2019 the Austrian Museumkrems will be showing an adaptation of the Rotterdam exhibition. For _Steve Bannon: A Propaganda Retrospective, Model _artist Jonas Staal used ten Alt-Right pamphlets from the period 2004-2018 as a starting point.

Artist Jonas Staal

Curator Marina Otero Verzier

With the generous support of Mondriaan Fund