Tenacious Tropes: Colonial Narratives in Visual Advertising

Burnt into our collective memory, image-based advertising perpetuates visual patterns that often go back to their beginnings in the 19th century – an era characterised by imperialist thinking and action in Europe and North America. As remnants of a colonialist visual language, many often discriminatory stereotypes have tenaciously persisted in advertising motifs to this day, from “Orient Food” to “Chocolate Magician.”


The two-day symposium traces the origins of colonial narratives in visual advertising from the heyday of colonialism around 1900 to the present day. Fourteen lectures by international experts will present German topics as well as perspectives from India, Cameroon, Korea, Brazil, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, and other countries. The subjects range from “stereotypography” and exoticism in AI images to the marketing of food, travel, and houseplants to the instrumentalization of Black bodies.


The symposium is fully bilingual. Presentations will be held in German or English and translated simultaneously. It is a face-to-face event and will not be streamed.



Participation is free of charge after registration. As the number of participants is limited, we recommend early reservation – please send an email to kolonialnarrative@smb.spk-berlin.de



An event by the Kunstbibliothek, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin in cooperation with the Deutsches Historisches Museum, supported by the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin.