"The Materialisation of Persuasion": Modernist Exhibitions in Britain for Propaganda and Resistance, 1933 to 1953

“说服力的物化：1933年至1953年英国宣传和抵抗的现代主义展览”调查了英国从战前到战后时期为宣传和抵抗交流而开发的展览。这个项目的核心展览旨在影响或说服，以思想而不是物体为中心焦点。设计师们对这个项目的共同愿景是，将这些展览视为积极和参与性的“示威”，作为挑衅行为，而不是被动观众所看到的“展示”，主要是作为展示商业，贸易，工业或艺术成果的平台。这一愿景最初受到俄罗斯和德国举办的展览的启发，并为早期英国福利国家的视觉语言提供了信息。该项目将特别关注国际艺术家协会（AIA）自1933年以来和信息部自1940年以来开发的一系列展览，旨在激发希望，自豪感并教授人口众多的新技能。这些展览可以简称为“宣传”或“信息”展览，尽管这些名称的复杂性和矛盾性将在本项目中得到解决。这些都是由包括米沙·布莱克（Misha Black，1910-1972）、F.H.K.亨利昂（Henrion，1914-1990）、詹姆斯·霍兰德（James Holland，1905-1996）、米尔纳·格雷（Milner Gray，1899-1997）和理查德·莱文（Richard Levin，1910-2000），他们都在1933年之后的二十年里从事展览工作，是相互联系的个人、专业和活动家网络的成员，其中许多人是逃离纳粹威胁的新来者。AIA的艺术家成员包括许多当时最重要的英国艺术家：亨利摩尔（1898-1986），埃里克·吉尔（1882-1940），Augustus John（1878-1961），凡妮莎·贝尔（1879-1961）保罗·纳什（1889-1946）;而信息部的展览司则聘请了著名的现代主义建筑师弗雷德里克·吉布雷（1908-1984）和彼得·摩罗（1911-1998）。这项研究将连接在一系列地点举行的宣传展览，以及在这几十年来，英国以外。他们是由一个扩展的设计师网络安装的，对他们来说，小组工作是合作和集体信念的重要体现。它将断言这是英国现代主义的一个关键，但在很大程度上被忽视的元素。特定案例研究将包括自1934年以来举办的各种AIA展览（例如，1939年在白教堂美术馆举办的“艺术为人民”和1943年在伦敦爆炸现场举办的“为了自由”）; 1937年在巴黎世界博览会上的和平馆; 1937年的现代建筑集团（或MARS）展览;毕加索的《格尔尼卡》在英国各地的旅游景点，包括一个汽车陈列室，1937-8年;帝国展览，格拉斯哥，1938年（特别是米沙·布莱克的装置）;纽约世界博览会英国馆，1939年;援助俄罗斯，1942年; 1940年至1945年，信息部在查令十字地铁站等地点举办展览，并在英国各地的商店和村庄霍尔斯举办展览; 1946年，中央信息办公室举办展览; 1946年，英国可以做到，V&A，（特别是设计研究单位的装置）。本计划亦会参考第一手及第二手资料，比较同期在欧洲及北美洲举办的其他展览的风格、内容及意识形态动力。“说服力的物化”的主要成果包括：一本名为《现代主义、宣传及公众：英国展览1933- 1953》的专题论文集;一本合编的散文集《超越边界：艺术和设计展览从1945年的跨国交流;方法论为重点的期刊文章;和一部纪录片探讨英国宣传展览在这一时期，并评估其意义今天。

'"The Materialisation of Persuasion": Modernist Exhibitions in Britain for Propaganda and Resistance, 1933 to 1953' investigates exhibitions developed for communication of propaganda and resistance from the inter- to the post-war period in Britain. The exhibitions that are central to this project were intended to influence or persuade, with ideas, not objects, as the central focus. Pivotal to this project is a vision, which the designers shared, of such exhibitions as active and participative 'demonstrations', as acts of provocation, rather than as 'displays' seen by a passive audience, primarily acting as platforms for displaying the fruits of commerce, trade, industry or the arts. This vision was initially inspired by exhibitions held in Russia and Germany and informed the visual language of the early British welfare state. This project will focus, in particular, on a range of exhibitions developed by the Artists' International Association (AIA) from 1933 and the Ministry of Information from 1940, intended to inspire hope, pride and to teach the populous new skills. These can, as shorthand, be described as "propaganda" or "information" exhibitions, although the complexities and contradictions of these titles will be addressed within this project. These were mounted by a network of designers including Misha Black (1910-1972), F.H.K. Henrion (1914-1990), James Holland (1905-1996), Milner Gray (1899-1997) and Richard Levin (1910-2000), all of whom worked on exhibitions during the two decades from 1933 and were members of interlinking personal, professional and activist networks, many of them recent arrivals fleeing the Nazi threat. AIA artist-members included many of the most significant British artists of the time: Henry Moore (1898-1986), Eric Gill (1882-1940), Augustus John (1878-1961), Vanessa Bell (1879-1961) and Paul Nash (1889-1946); while the Ministry of Information's Exhibitions Division employed celebrated Modernist architects Frederick Gibberd (1908-1984) and Peter Moro (1911-1998). This research will connect propaganda exhibitions held across a range of locations around, and beyond, Britain during these decades. They were mounted by an extended network of designers, for whom group-work was an important manifestation of a belief in collaboration and collectivity. It will assert this as a key, but largely overlooked, element in British Modernism. Particular case studies will include various AIA exhibitions mounted from 1934 (for example 'Art for the People', 1939 held at Whitechapel Art Gallery and 'For Liberty', 1943, held on a London bombsite); The Peace Pavilion at the Paris World Fair, 1937; The Modern Architecture Group (or MARS) exhibition, 1937; Picasso's Guernica touring sites around Britain including a car showroom, 1937-8; Empire Exhibition, Glasgow, 1938 (in particular installations by Misha Black); the British Pavilion at New York World's Fair, 1939; Aid to Russia, 1942; Ministry of Information exhibitions mounted in sites such as Charing Cross Underground Station and travelling round Britain to shops and village halls from 1940-45; and by Central Office of Information from 1946; and Britain Can Make It, V&A, 1946, (specifically installations by Design Research Unit). Drawing on primary and secondary sources, this project will also make comparisons of the style, content and ideological impetus of other exhibitions mounted across Europe and North America during the same period.Major outputs of "The Materialisation of Persuasion" will be: a monograph entitled 'Modernism, Propaganda and the Public: Exhibitions in Britain 1933-1953'; a co-edited essay collection 'Beyond Boundaries: Art and Design Exhibitions as Transnational Exchange from 1945'; a methodologically-focused journal article; and a documentary film exploring British propaganda exhibitions during this period and assessing their significance today.