Scholars Jana Cattien and Sruti Bala will offer critical theoretical insights and questions relating to some of the explosive debates on culture and the arts. Jana takes ideological attacks on gender and critical race theory as a starting point to look at fascist and right-wing mobilisations of ‘culture’. She looks at the psychic and political drivers of these mobilisations and suggests that the concept of the ‘perfect enemy’ might allow us to both make sense of them, as well as to think about effective strategies of resistance. Sruti questions the common assumption that art and culture are benign and either contribute to societal cohesion and understanding, or in the worst case, are useless and elitist. The talk argues that under the present conditions of unprecedented militarisation, art and culture can also do harm and serve as tools of inciting violence and manufacturing consent. Hosted by Miguel Melgares Art as a Weapon is a multi‑day public programme around cultural wars, propaganda, artistic resistance and humor curated by Studio Julian Hetzel in dialogue with DAS Theatre and Frascati Theatre. The programme is presented in the context of the performances Three Times Left is Right at Frascati.
