In the German Democratic Republic (GDR) under communist rule
(1949-1989), public art was a major artistic genre. It served both the
political and social programme of the government, both internally to GDR
citizens and externally, promoting the image of a culturally mature
nation with attractive, modern cities. Not only did this art form
receive substantial funding, it was also the subject of an ongoing and
intense critical debate within political and artistic circles.
The evolution of public art over the country’s forty year history
reflected oscillating positions on the function of art and the role of
the artist in socialist society. Whilst artistic expression was a
subject of contention between politicians, cultural functionaries, and
artists, forms of public art ranged from the Socialist Realist
imperative, to designed and illustrative forms and techniques of the
applied arts, through to otherwise politically unacceptable abstraction
and what is retrospectively described as architectural East Modern.
Was public art “propaganda art" or visual communication? Its
visibility made it the ideal genre for propagating political ideas. This
research conceives the discourse of public art as a territory of
negotiation between artists, architects, critics, political actors and
ordinary people, as the government sought to satisfy the ever increasing
expectations of its citizens within the non-negotiable socialist
system. The genre was not only a way of communicating the success of the
socialist project, and offering a sense of security in rapidly
modernising society; its function became also one of offering
diversification and orientation in the built environment within the
perceived monotony of system built architecture. The thousands of
artworks commissioned for the exteriors and interiors of libraries,
schools, nurseries, workplaces, restaurants and hospitals were intended
to perform indentification, decorative, and uplifting functions, and
drew on a range of visual and cultural traditions.
The complex terrain of the genre of public art offers insights into
the political and artistic discourse of both the ruling SED party and
art political interests. This research will examine the functions of
public art and design in forming and representing an east German
socialist identity, and ask whether ultimately, public art and design
did indeed meet the aims which the GDR cultural programme had set itself