Propaganda by the People

Describe your idea and concept of your work in relation to the festival outlines:

We believe Europe needs a new story. Not a new story from Brussels or one of the national governments, they failed before. That's why we try it ourselves, together with you: crowdsourced Propaganda by the People. Let's try and find new common ground on Europe. Let's try to make a uniting, inclusive story on the Europe we like, love, or would like to love. A story that goes further than just the EU, but a story that brings together cultural, geographical and political Europe. All your stories together will make the first crowdsourced European Propagandamovie ever.

Crowdsourced Propaganda takes the essence of propaganda. Where propaganda was used by the few to influence many we want to create a new story and new visual language of Europe with the masses and with this change the European narrative bottom-up.

Propaganda by the People is a crowdsourced project to obtain a new European narrative and new European language.

We give people the opportunity to tell their own stories about Europe, we do so by the clichés of propaganda.

Crowdsourcing propaganda is a self-fulfilling prophecy. When people share their stories and imagery through our application, they make propaganda for their Europe, and motivate people within their network to shape new stories and propaganda. So the more people we can reach, the wider shared this story-in-progress can be. Together all the individual stories and submissions bring a new European story, built from the images and comments from all participants. Stories that we gather actively in application workshops and street actions with various groups and at various locations in Europe. The project could continue endlessly in a way, because a story on Europe will always change, but we want to filter an overarching story of all contributions in September 2016.

What kind of communication approach do you use?

We want to get Europe back from the EU and look for a new, inclusive narrative about Europe. In the development phase, we first have gradually developed a workshop in which people have contributed offline, through posters templates and markers. So far 750 Europeans have contributed and drawn one or more posters. With the experiences we converted the workshop into an online version. At our project website is an animated film. This animation explains in 1.5 minutes, the European story of all participants until now. What do they think of Europe? Where we have to fight? What are we protecting? As a user, you can also contribute to the film. You can pause the animation at any time and add your opinion and draw in the frame. You can then save the frame with your description. The frame is then added to the film where other viewers can comment on your frame and start a discussion. This Summer we will remain traveling with the animation, but the website should make it easy for people to contribute from home or implement this workshop in there own project.

What are in your opinion concrete benefits to the society because of your communication?

Propaganda by the People comprises a work ethic that is greater than the sum of its parts. By going into the streets we try to understand the story of Europe. It is impossible to judge about Europe without knowing the experience of the Europeans themselves. Here we find the stories and their necessity.

The old woman on a street bench, an outgoing school, a sightseer and a couple of street promoters, all are suitable participants for our project. Every moment of the day and everyone is capable of the encompassing European story. We do not need great stories need for a good contribution. We ask the participants for the small, everyday, nearest images for all of us.

Local events and the ordinary, the things that are question the very least, what do they mean for Europe? The street workshops provide a platform for the sake of these everyday stories. These workshops resulted in a diverse sum that is easy enough to understand for passersby and put together a story that they had not seen before.

In our globalized world, the result is the growing reach of the mass media, the belief in a one-sided story, and this serves is the feeling of fear of the other. In this Europe we want to hear an alternative voice, from unilateral to multifaceted storytelling. Stories that we do not know yet but we are all part of his every day.

What did you personally learn from creating your submitted work?

The project provides an opportunity to mock classical propaganda. The film provides a platform for your opinion. At previous workshops we noticed comments on the posters has a great added value. On the website under the application we want to reserve this space for discussion and rally told stories about Europe. This creates non-collection of images a collection of personal stories and ideas.

The big challenge was to make the visual (propaganda) story strong, but also to express the strong content. That content is in the propaganda film, but for this the context was also very important.

Why is your work, GOOD communication WORK?

It should not be surprising that we, the authors, partly do this project from commitment. We are all pro-European and look for open borders, free movement of persons and goods, peace through cooperation etc no alternative. Of course, nothing neutral to propaganda, but the project is not called ‘propaganda for Europe’ on purpose. Leave propaganda for the EU. It is European Propaganda by the People, in terms of their European story, whether it is negative or positive.
Nationalistic politicians such as Wilders' statements came into view as the great necessity why Europe needs a new narrative. That may be so, but we also want to properly investigate his supporters what Europe is about. Then we must create a project as neutral as possible. That’s why we try - as neutral as possible - to filter out a narrative and visual language that Europe and following the EU, could bring itself ‘further’ and could strengthen with.
This project stems from commitment, but certainly also from curiosity to experiment. All we have been working on in recent years is searching the limits of our profession: making documentary clarify complicated stories. With great crowdfunded projects like The Sochi Project, with the VPRO Backlight Big Data project The Shell Search, the interactive music video Hidden Wounds. Propaganda by the People goes one step further, not only by its interactivity, but also the end goal. We will not only document, this time we want to intervene.

Where and how do you intent do implement your work?

Our online project we are trying to reach the widest possible audience, through our media partners, through our Facebook page. We do not have a target group, except that we hope to reach the widest possible audience. Therefore, we organize workshops abroad with the focus groups that we think we will not achieve naturally or find important or useful; nationalists, Eurosceptics and youth.
At the end of the project we try to explore the submitted propaganda who sent propaganda (country of origin, age, education) in order to arrive at a fairly representative idea. But we're also going to approach the entries journalistic / documentary. Maybe there is one fantastic story not as representative of many other entries, but we feel that it very well could connect with those, or just tells an interesting story that can appeal to others.
By maintaining as much contacts as possible, we can go with this final story (in the form of a 'frozen' animation, an item, and possibly a short film) back to all participants. Also, this story is the final point in the series for media partners as VPRO Backlight.

Did your intervention had an effect on other Media. If yes, describe the effect? (Has other media reported on it- how? Were you able to change other media with your work- how?)

VPRO Backlight & VPRO digitally are the main platform where we open the campaign in the Netherlands. Propaganda by the People has been linked to the VPRO since we offered our workshops in September 2015 at the broadcast 'Branding Europe'. Head of digital VPRO Backlight Jasper Koning created an online drawing workshop on their website with us.

De Balie / European Cultural Forum organizes in different places (Ukraine, Bulgaria, England) workshops, street actions and took us with them.

New Europeans / Europe by People provided a cultural side program around the summit in Amsterdam 2016. Propaganda by the People is included with an extensive presence on 'The Wall', the wall along the Marine area where the summit is organized.

We noted in the offline beta phase of development of this project that many agencies were already clamoring to our stories, results and methodology. We hope to connect to more media partners, because our application should be good embeddable within third-party sites.