Socialist Mode of Production and Amateur Films
13.10.2021, 18:30
Conference hall of the Center for Urban History / online
We invite you to a discussion "Socialist Mode of Production and Amateur Films" that continues the public program for the exhibition "Society with a Movie Camera."
In 1924, the USSR passed a resolution "On Private Reception Radio Stations," which allowed citizens to use radios. But the inhabitants of the socialist empire could only freely buy radio sets, without long waiting lists, in 1952. In 1932, the first batch of television sets was compiled in the USSR, but only in 1938 did regular television broadcasts begin. In 1957, portable film cameras were launched into mass production, which for the Soviet people remained for a long time a luxury, not a daily commodity. It was so difficult and slow to create a media community of Soviet people who listened, watched, but also actively created their own media products, such as amateur films. The socialist way of producing and disseminating media infrastructure was closely connected with the ideas of collective labor, common property, and ideological self- consciousness.
Can we interpret and understand Soviet-era amateur films as part of socialist production? What are the aesthetic and ethical characteristics of such cultural production?
Oleksandr Makhanets, Iryna Sklokina and Bohdan Shumylovych will take part in the conversation.
The event will be hosted by the Center for Urban History with a live broadcast on the Center's Youtube channel.
Oleksandr Makhanets
Historian-archivist, project manager of the Urban Media Archive, curator of the exhibition “Society with a Film Camera.” Among his research interests: documentary photography and amateur films, history of cities, urban planning, digital humanities, social history, classical languages, anthropology.
Iryna Sklokina
Historian, researcher at the Center for Urban History. Research interests: Soviet and post-Soviet politics of memory, industrial heritage, museum studies, oral history.
Bohdan Shumylovych
Researcher, coordinator of the Center’s public history programs.
The exhibition "Society with a Movie Camera" welcomes you to take a look at the world of amateur films. It shares the story of this phenomenon and displays some unique materials never seen before. The exhibition is based on a collection of amateur films from private collections accumulated over the past ten years by the Urban Media Archive at the Center for Urban History.
Opening hours
- Wednesday – Friday from 12.00 to 19.00
- Saturday – Sunday from 12.00 to 18.00
The event is implemented within the project "Society with a Movie Camera: History of Visual Modes and Creation Practices in Ukraine" supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
The position of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation may not coincide with the opinion of the authors.
Credits
Cover Image: Bohdan Yemets