Propaganda - Kulture Shop's New 10-Poster Art Collection Hits Hard

(L) 'G for Genius' by Karan Kumar & (R) 'Breakfast of Patriots' by Mohini Mukherjee
(L) 'G for Genius' by Karan Kumar & (R) 'Breakfast of Patriots' by Mohini MukherjeeKulture Shop

The lean, goateed man is staring right at me. His ensemble is a not so subtle reflection of American patriotism, and his finger is pointing at me almost accusatorily. If you haven’t already guessed, I am looking at the U.S. Army’s recruitment poster from World War I featuring Uncle Sam. First printed in 1916, the poster was reprinted more than four million times between 1917 and 1918. It was also one of the first instances of art being used as a means to generate discourse.

Kulture Shop tries to reimagine this aspect of art, armed with pop colors and a brigade of young artists rearing to go. Their latest collection titled and themed ‘Propaganda’ talks about how art has been used since time immemorial as a medium to generate awareness, spark conversations, and of course, sway public opinion. They narrowed down on the topic after being inspired by the propaganda posters that were used during both World War I and World War II, and those from the Cold War period. “Apart from them (posters from the World War and Cold War eras) being just beautiful historical things to look at, I also feel that politically the entire world is moving into a zone where people don’t trust their governments anymore. There exists a lot of mistrust. We all thought it would be interesting to open it (propaganda) up and question people about what propaganda looks like now because governments and corporations haven’t stopped trying to influence us, but they’ve just gotten smarter about it and the mediums have changed,” said Mohini Mukherjee, Co-Curator for Kulture Shop.

Kulture Shop collaborated with 10 artists to curate pieces that give you an insight into the artists’ interpretation of what propaganda means to them. Subsequently bringing to the forefront “new vehicles of propaganda”. The array of topics are diverse, ranging from fake news to family planning.

Artist Sahil Shah’s hand-drawn posters trace the rise and fall of empires and of leaders. His creations titled ‘Ascension’, ‘Reign’ and ‘Downfall’ tell this cyclical story and puts it forth to viewers in a pop of colours and intricate detailing, all done through old-school pen-to-paper. From Roman helmets to the pulling down of Saddam Hussein’s statue by citizens, each individual image tells its own story. Speaking to Vice, Shah says that together the three tell a political tale but “ultimately it is your interpretation of these open-ended images.”

Karan Kumar’s interpretation and visualisation of theme hit closer to home. He wanted to use a phrase that people would connect with and address the Indian education system. “This is something that I myself have grown up frustrated with, and it has only gotten worse over time. I started looking into Indian advertisements that would be relevant and came across Parle G and it really stuck. We’ve all seen and heard this tag-line growing up – it’s telling you to eat this and become a genius because that’s very important. I knew I could weave this in with the struggle I had between classes 10 and 12, having to decide between doing Design or something like Engineering, and the kind of pressure kids are under,” says Kumar. Inspired by typical War and USSR propaganda posters, as well as the work of Shepard Fairey, Kumar finalised his piece ‘G for Genius’.

G FOR GENIUS by Karan Kumar (for Propaganda by Kulture Shop)

Kulture Shop is one of the few spaces in the country that provide a platform for new and upcoming graphic designers and artists to present their talent. They support emerging talent in the field of graphic design by giving them the opportunity to create prints for merchandise that is sold on this innovative artist collective’s website and at their on-ground stores. Kulture Shop not only showcases and promotes graphic arts, but ensures that the designers associated with them get their much deserved share of recognition.

Creating a piece for any of Kulture Shop’s collection is always a collaborative process. “The idea and the execution is the artist, but we are involved right from the sketch stage of the artwork. The artists ask us for feedback, we help them develop a concept, we always give ideas, but the execution is entirely the artists. We are involved throughout the process. So, there is some minimal art direction, but that is about it,” said Mukherjee, explaining the collaborative nature of their work, ensuring creative freedom to artists while ensuring cohesion overall.

The curation process is not rigid or structured but is instead entirely based on whether the artists’ creations’ natural tone is in line with the collection in question. “There is a very loose process. Even though we have 95 artists on the platform, they are artists we have signed individually. We are very aware of their tastes and trends, and what they are interested in. We’ve known these artists for a while now,” said Mukherjee.

For the Propaganda collection, in particular, Kulture Shop includes artists “who have a strong voice, who are technically skilled and someone with a sense of humour”. Mukherjee also mentions that Kulture Shop’s brief for any collection always puts emphasis on the use of satire and wit as humour is one of the most effective tools to communicate any information, humour was also one of the key tool used in historic propaganda posters.

I'D RATHER CHILL by Tanya Eden (for Propaganda by Kulture Shop)

An extension of the Propaganda collection was a contest for young individuals entering the field of graphic design. It was an open call for whoever wanted to contribute and was Kulture Shop’s way to engage with artists who aren’t already a part of the platform. The winner of the contest, who has been picked and will be announced shortly, will be signed by Kulture Shop and create content for them.

Through this collection, Kulture Shop wants to do away with the tag of “being apolitical” that is often attached to the design community at large. “Art can be a big catalyst for change. Art has a way of evoking very strong emotions in people. Art is one of the only things we do with no real purpose, if you really think about it, there is no real need it fulfils in people’s lives. But at the same time, it (our life) seems so empty without it. People enjoy art because it gives them the opportunity to start conversation s that they might not be able to start otherwise,” signs off Mukherjee.

The collection will be on display from 1st - 15th September at Kulture Shop Kala Ghoda, you can also view the prints on their website. Homegrown is also hosting an exclusive digital exhibition in collaboration with Kulture Shop on Instagram on September 3 – view the collection on Instagram stories @homegrownin.

Feature image: (L) ‘G for Genius’ by Karan Kumar & (R) ‘Breakfast of Patriots’ by Mohini Mukherjee.

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