The title of this article promises to focus on religion as a motivational drive for terrorism. However, I am far from thoughtless replicating the term ’religious terrorism’. It mistakenly suggests some presumed obviousness in defining the problem. Meanwhile, in recent decades the so-called critical terrorism studies have repeatedly proved that such labeling generates problems instead of explaining them. Cultural visual studies show that religious terrorism has many faces.
Globalization is often treated as a catch-all category, which is a universal frame of reference in the discourse of the humanities, social studies, but also economic, political, and many other fields. Depending on the perspective, some evaluate it very positively, recognizing the benefits; others, on the contrary, point out the threats, and undesirable side effects. Meanwhile, in the reflection on religions, globalization launches a range of fears and concerns (more or less openly articulated). The unquestionable ally of this phenomenon is the modern media, whose tabloid nature is more emotional than rational. Religious conflicts are often overexposed, which, in turn, accelerates tension and social phobias. Both the mainstream media and the propaganda of the Islamic State are trying to imitate the rhetoric known from the movies at the cinema. As a result, by such pop-culture cliches the Western world interprets the influx of Syrian refugees as a cultural invasion (or a religious crusade). This creates a situation of a widespread infection of fear, which triggers the cultural immune responses: rationalizations, denial, conspiracy theories, humour and aggression. Visual artists propose quite a different repertoire of resistance tactics.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have repeatedly been a topic in cinematography. These films depicted mutually inflicted harm and their moral premises from different perspectives. In recent years, cinema has noticeably lost its “monopoly” on socially significant narratives, making them permanently appear on the silver screen. Nowadays, we need less and less time for death and trauma (social, cultural and individual) to become a material for the entertainment industry. However, instead of joining the choir lamenting this state of affairs, it is worth taking a closer look at it for a change – if not favorably, then at least with an ambivalent attitude. After all, entertainment can become both an active catalyst for cultural traumas, regulate the dynamics of post-traumatic growth, as well as promote re-traumatization.
Despite centuries of perfecting supervisory techniques, we still find ourselves between their commonness and anxiety caused mainly by the asymmetry of the viewer/viewed relationship. Video surveillance has become a very common phenomenon today, fitting harmoniously into the urban infrastructure. However, if its existence can be explained by the simple logic of exchanging privacy for security, then why do CCTV cameras still fascinate artists? For years, we have been observing a multitude of curatorial projects in which the tools of visual surveillance are used in the field of critical art or artivism, and at the same time thoroughly researched. Paradoxically, both these spheres are connected by the desire to carefully observe society and create images. Art attempts to highlight not only the ethical threats generated by the culture of surveillance, but also to uncover all traps, paradoxes and discontinuities in the discourses that legitimize this surveillance. That is why artists perform hundreds of experiments in this field, ranging from quasi-guides of everyday resistance, through taking the initiative in the field of ‘following the followers’, ironically dismantling the authority of the ‘eye of power’, to infiltration and analysis of monitoring systems, i.e. legal, ethical and technological rules governing this medium.
In the construction of the post-Soviet identity after perestroika, the authorities centralized in the Kremlin and the Orthodox Church turned out to be clearly active factors, which seemed to be supplemented by the oligarchies of the new financial elites. In the face of Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, the West reacted not only with sanctions, but also with the so-called cancel culture. That is why it is worth recalling the dissident activities of Russian artists and activists, and looking at their critical tactics and strategies, which target both the state authorities and the Orthodox Church.
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