More than meets the eye : the use of exhibitions as agents of propaganda during the inter-war period.

Abstract

Exhibitions can be powerful forms of persuasion because audiences tend to have an innate trust in them to be factual and objective. However, this trust has often been manipulated by those who recognize the influence exhibits can have on the viewers. Certain exhibitions that were influenced by different social and political movements during the inter-war period (1918-1939) were meant to serve propaganda purposes. The British Empire Exhibition of 1924-1925, The French International Colonial Exposition of 1931, the exhibits created by the American Eugenics Movement, and the Nazi Degenerate Art Exhibit are all examples of propaganda exhibitions. By examining the motives of the organizers, as well as exhibition posters, brochures, advertisements and the displays themselves, the true message of these exhibits becomes apparent. Not only were events forms of visual manipulation, they each had devastating effects that would last for years.