The period from the end of the Second World War to the mid 1970s was a time of great political tension and exceptional creativity. Art and design were not peripheral symptoms of politics during the Cold War: they played a central role in representing and sometimes challenging the dominant political and social ideas of the age. In 2008, the V&A hosted the major exhibition ' Cold War Modern: Design 1945-70'.
Anxiety and Hope in the Aftermath of World War II
The Second World War caused tremendous devastation. But this tragedy also created an opportunity for architects and designers
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The Conscription of the Arts during the Cold War
Artists and designers played a central role in the Cold War battle of images. Their work was conscripted for propaganda, and their actions and opinions prized.
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Crisis and Fear in Cold War Design
Cold War anxieties peaked at the beginning of the 1960s and artists began to imagine the landscape in terms of menace.
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The Space Race
The 'space race' was the most dramatic sphere of Cold War competition. Man's journey into space required tremendous ingenuity - from the powerful rockets which fired satell…
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Cold War Revolution and Protest
The idea of revolution was revitalised during the 1960s. A new generation of activists - in the East and the West - argued that society could be dramatically reorganised by…
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Cold War Utopian Ideals
The late 1960s saw the last surge of utopian thinking in the 20th century. Visionaries on both sides of the Cold War envisaged new ways of living.
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Garden Egg Chair by Peter Ghyczy, 1968
The Garden Egg, or Senftenberg Egg, chair was designed by Peter Ghyczy in 1968. It has two stories, one from each side of the Berlin wall.
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The Victorians and Edwardians at War (Paperback)
By the time the first photographs were taken at war in the late 1840s, the idea that 'the camera cannot lie' was already firmly embedded in the Victor…
Buy nowEvent - Style Cities: Berlin
Sat 08 June 2013 14:00
SEMINAR: Explore post-war Berlin,the divided city of the Cold War era, that inspired David Bowie and the thriving creative city today which continues to attract innovative practitioners from across the globe.
