Prego 1 Through millennia humans have used art to represent in an aesthetic manner their life and beliefs.

Ancient Egyptians relied on mural paintings and sculpture to depict their hierarchy and religious beliefs among other aspects of life. They also painted their ways of producing food and how they distributed it. In the same way, Mayans carved out stones to engrave their way of living, the sacrifices they committed, the astrological findings they made, among others. Nonetheless, we have also seen that the history of culture/art has served for other reasons besides keeping social and economic records or engraving religious rituals. The ideological purpose of culture/art has been used to affect the behavior of the people. In other words, the use of art does not only serve to represent beautiful aesthetics representations like paintings or carved stones, but it is also used to form political conduct. Hence the question arises: How culture can be used to serve political objectives and not merely to expose artistic manifestations? In what manners have humans relied on culture as a catalyst to convey strong political and ideological messages so that it results appealing for the spectator? Finally, how artistic manifestation differs from direct political speech in terms of convincing the spectator and easiness of understanding? I will first provide examples how humans throughout history have taken advantage of culture as a mean to propagate a given ideology or to induce desired emotions given the social and political context of the time; in order to, facilitate the understanding of the relationship between culture, society and ideology. The Counter Reformation and its Cultural policy In the 1500s the Catholic Church went through a religious crisis. Their inner most catholic principles and values were in jeopardy due the upheaval caused by the Protestant

Prego 2 Reformation. This movement intended to denounce the basic dogmas of the church and the corruption within the hierarchical system by reforming the traditional practices/rituals and diminishing the Popes ecclesial authority who they considered erroneous. Among the many practices they denied the most attacked were: the cult of Virgin Mary, the primacy of St. Peter, the efficacy of prayers for the dead, the intervention of the saints, veneration of images and relics, martyrdom as the crowning glory and in particular, Charity and Blessed Sacrament. (Lees-Milne, 1960:73). Protestantism signified a decadence of the core beliefs and practices that the traditional Church had been practicing for centuries. In response to this ideological crisis, the Catholic Church formed the Council of Trent (1545-1563), whose main purpose was to counter attack the rebellion of Reformistsfrom which derives the name Counter-Reformation. This anti-reformist movement clearly represents an ideological response to the reforms of Protestantism who was undermining the basic doctrines of the Church. The Counter-Reformation was looking forward to ignite the fire of faith among catholics who had been exposed to the influence of Reformation. Nonetheless, how were the Counter-Reformers intended to do so? The most obvious yet very difficult task that would trigger effective spiritual revival was to culturize people through the work of artists, painters, sculptures etc (Grandeur and Obedience). In other words, the aesthetic representation of the traditional religious beliefs and practices was the keystone to reinforce faith and to re-impose the sole authority of the Pope. It was through the use of religious imagery that the Church would convey a compelling religious message Yet, the work of the artist had to be clear, simple, intelligible, realistic and emotional stimulating for piety (Wittkower, 1980: 22) for it to be appealing to the viewer. One of the most incredible and shocking masterpieces of those times is Ecstasy of St. Theresa created by the sculptor Gian

Prego 3 Lorenzo Bernini. This sculpture symbolizes how pleasant faith can be ( Angel stabbing virgin while she enjoys it). Basically, this is what the church intended with visual arts, to induce passionate and strong emotions so people could revive the beacon of faith. Besides sculpture and painting, arquitecture also played an important role on the Churchs intentions of utilizing aesthetic representations to revive catholic faith. The most prominent work of arquitecture made during the Counter-Reformation is St. Peters. It is not only the majestousity and intimidating size of St Peters that makes people think of the grandeur and power of the Catholic Church but also some of the features that St. Peters possesses makes us recall the principles of the Counter-Reformation. For instance, the St. Peters square is surrounded by two inward curved walls which resemble the arms of the Catholic Church embracing their people. Another example is the Papal balcony which is located in the middle and above of St Peters. It was intended this way to symbolize the supremacy and sole power of the Pope. Triumph of the Will, The Wonderful, Horrible life of Leni Riefenstahl As well as the Counter Reformation the National Socialists (Nazis) utilized culture as a tool to convey a given political/ideological message. Of course, the counter-reformation relied on different manners of expressing an ideal than the Nazis; yet, they both used aesthetic representation to induce a desire feeling. The Nazi was a military regime under the command of Adolf Hitler. This regime advocated for national unity in which racial purity was essential for the success of Germany. Among Hitlers ambitions, he envisioned to create one unite and pure Germany free from other races, specially Jews. In other words, he had projected himself constructing a Germany

Prego 4 were the Aryan was the ideal man. Hitler knew that if there was an effective way to spread this belief system it was through visual art. The documentary Triumph of the Will by Leni Reifenstahl reinforces the Nazis ideology by depicting National Socialism in ways never seen before. The movie exalts Hitlers supreme authority and presents him as the leader to guide Germany towards victorythe victory of the Aryan race. There are scenes where a vibrant and passionate Hitler addresses the army demonstrating his fervent desire of national unity and communality. Nonetheless, despite how emotional and appealing Hitlers speeches may have been, the artistic manner in which Triumph of the Will was filmed played a significant role in heightening Hitlers command and power. Many of the techniques used by Riefenstahl used in the documentary had never been applied before in cinematographic history (rotating cameras, moving cameras, long focus lenses), which made the content of the film to be more attractive and sensational; thus, it raised Hitlers presence. Moreover, the shots made in the film are very symbolistic since many of them portray a mighty Hitler addressing a large number of soldiers who are listening and responding to der Fuhrers voice. This type of shots made strong allusion to one of Nazis most basic principles of obedience and discipline. Triumph of the Will is acclaimed to be among the best documentaries ever made in history for its revolution in cinematography. However, the real historical contribution of this film is not its artistic significance, but rather because it served as an effective propagandistic mean to heighten, almost to worship, Nazis ideals of national unity and racial purity. Nazis were very effective in affecting peoples state of mind and beliefs through propaganda and other artistic means but Triumph of the Will is the definite work of the Nazis to turn culture/artin this

Prego 5 case cinematography for the expansion and glorification of their ideology to the highest level possible. The Frescoes of Diego Rivera, Siqueiros: Artist and Warrior At the beginnings of the 1900s, Jose Vasconcelos, Minister of Education, realized that Mexico lacked from a unique identity that would differentiate Mexicans from other cultures. In his quest of finding the real identity of the mexican, Vasconcelos began a cultural plan that engaged great artist and painters to portray the essence of the Mexican life in state buildings and public murals. Among these artists, Diego Rivera was one of them. This painter basically painted about Mexican people and their way of living but making emphasis in the glorification of the poor who had been oppressed by the government. He also painted pre-colonial (Mayan) art, which was very proper of the Mexicans. This cultural plan besides spreading art and culture in Mexicos more affluent places also served to plant a political idea in the minds of the viewer. Apart from their artistic beauty, Riveras frescoes cultivated in the viewer a radical new perception of Mexican people and the way they lived. Through his art, Rivera intended to create a social message that would divert the view of the traditional social order of the Mexicans and to expose a new social order. A new social order where the poor is glorified, a new social order where the peasant and the bourgeoisie elaborate together, a new social order where the poor and the weak demand their rights to the government etc. This is the reason why many of Riveras paintings depict poor people armed and ready to confront the injustices of the government (Mexican Revolution).

Prego 6 David Alfaro Siqueiros was also amongst these important artists who were given the task to use imagery to represent the spiritual identity of the Mexican people. Siqueiros was a faithful follower of Stalinism; therefore, he was a vibrant advocator for the equality of classes and the abolition of the dictarorship. However, he did not only implicitly supported these ideals but he manifested them through the paintings in the murals. The idea of using culture for political ends is embedded in a complex relationship between art, ideology and viewer; for these are not unrelated from one another but rather they cause a linear effect. This effect begins with the presentation of art as it isonly the explicit aesthetic representation of something; nonetheless, art is not created only for arts sake. This means that every piece of art possesses an inherent message that is being transmitted to the person who sees the piece. This message that transmits into the observers mind develops into an idea which is in accordance to the original purpose of creating that piece of art; however, this idea may be subject to different interpretations given the way in which people perceive it. The success of the Counter-Reformation, the Nazis, Rivera and Siqueiros in their goal to transmit this messagewhether it is to revive faith, convey a political message or to create a new social portraitis profoundly rooted in the fact that they relied on culture as an aesthetic visual and audial (the case of Triumph of the Will) stimulus to yield desired feelings. They were able to convert culture into visual arts which allowed practicality and effectiveness. For this same reason, is why a piece of art is much easier to grasp than a political speech. While the latter is composed of only words, the former is a spontaneous visual reflection of the intended message which makes it easier to assimilate.

March 15th, 2011

Cultural Policy and Political Implications

Jose Adan Prego ID: 89-321-55-26 Poli 4011 Cultural Policy Dr. Kevin Mulcahy Louisina State University