The Wall In an industrialised society, powerful people and people of wealth want to show their wealth and prestige in any way possible. The political leaders however are possibly the most able to do so. In the 21st century architectural propaganda can be in many forms, some subtle others more apparent. When Donald Trump’s presidency began in 2017, the propaganda leaders use took a whole new and solid meaning. The wall that he still suggests to build on the southern border of the United States of America is a total reliance on the power of architectural propaganda. Architecture plays a fundamental role in the propagandized rhetoric of the Trump Administration which harbour an ideology with an unquestionable emphasis on nationalism.
Conclusion After looking at key examples from various time periods, spanning over thousands of years, and investigating the relationship between art and propaganda, the paper sums up as the following. Art and propaganda have always been on the two sides of a medallion. Every artwork that had something to say is, to a certain extent, a form of propaganda. Whether it is a propaganda of an artist’s completely personal opinions or serves to a much bigger case it is in propagandistic motives. Although the motives behind some artworks remain a mystery, it is possible to find many other clear approaches to support this idea. It is not very possible for art historians to clearly depict the reasons behind cave paintings thus relating them to propagandistic motives. However homo sapiens using the paintings of the animal they hunted as trophies or for commemorating their bravery and success is a possibility that cannot be denied fully. The depictions on Trajan’s Column are definitely designed in order to empower the emperor and keep his reign over the great Roman Empire. As the Church commissions paintings to tell the stories from the Bible, they become great examples of religious propaganda. By the help of many reproductions of the same scenes and compositions people are informed about Christianity and invited to join the churches. Guernica is the propaganda of an artist, protesting wars and laying bare the gruesome after math. The violence innocent people are bound to go through is condemned and Guernica is still a powerful piece of propaganda with high artistic values. Transparency, the performance art piece, might remind one of the protestors using paper cutouts of the figures in Guernica in their marches. 9
