VISUAL ART AS A REFLECTION OF THE RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR: (CASE ODESA)
Abstract
The article is devoted to the examination of visual art as a medium for reflection through which the residents of Odesa interpret and respond to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. The methodological framework is grounded in the constructivist paradigm and involves the analysis of actors’ tactics in the politico-aesthetic interpretation of wartime events, the use of artistic tools for mobilizing civic support for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Visual art, in both its traditional and contemporary genres, is interpreted by the author in an instrumental and technological sense – as a complex of “soft” and “smart” tech- nologies aimed at influencing collective consciousness for the purpose of constructing a corresponding aesthetic worldview, shaping emotionally charged evaluative judgments regarding the phenomena, processes, and events of political reality, and establishing sustainable channels of vertical and horizontal non-verbal social communication. The study employs procedures of urban ethnography, including the photographic docu- mentation of ideologically charged examples of visual art in various locations of the city of Odesa, their comparative and critical content analysis, and subsequent interpretation as both instruments and outcomes of aesthetic (individual and collective) sense-making of the phenomenon of war. The study identifies the characteristics of aesthetic production by institutional and non-institutional actors within the local political regime of the city of Odesa. It provides an assessment of the effectiveness of constructing non-verbal political communication through works of visual art. The prospects for further research into the role of visual art within the repertoire of political instruments are outlined.
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