Culture as an Instrument of War
Virtual panarama, text, investigation, 2022-2023.
During 2022, I conducted a large study on how Russian cultural institutions are involved in pro-war propaganda. I analyzed the open data of the Ministry of Culture and the posts of cultural institutions in social networks in order to uncover the mechanisms of how the sphere of culture in nowaday's Russia is directly involved in the Russian war against Ukraine, spreading lies and militarism.
The virtual presentation of this project is built using Pannellum Panorama Viewer by Matthew Petroff.
Culture as an Instrument of War: Cultural Integration
Z-concerts, neo-Nazi music videos, and the purges of major museums and theaters—this is a massive "cultural front" of the war that's hard to miss. But at the same time, throughout Russia and in the occupied territories of Ukraine—in museums, libraries, and cultural centers—a less visible but no less extensive propaganda campaign is being conducted, justifying the war, whitewashing war crimes, and completely transforming the country's cultural landscape.
Culture as an Instrument of War: Agitfront
Russian cultural institutions' social media pages are part of a common "network" for distributing propaganda posts: they publish identical posts, often timed to coincide with and approving of certain decisions by the Russian president. Exactly the same posts are also published simultaneously on the social media pages of administrations, ministries, departments, district newspapers, United Russia party branches, and various official or pro-government projects.
