From April 27 to 29, AANT took part in the International Days hosted by the Artevelde University of Applied Sciences in Ghent, Belgium, as part of the Erasmus activities dedicated to international exchange among students, lecturers and European academic institutions.
Representing the Rome-based Academy was Valerio Di Paola, lecturer and coordinator of the Diploma course in Videomaking, Story, Cinema and Media Design, invited by the Department of Communication, Media and Design of the Belgian university to deliver the lecture and workshop “Populism on Screen: Cinema, TV and AI-driven Communication”.
The event offered a reflection on the relationship between audiovisual languages, political communication and generative artificial intelligence, exploring how cinema, television series and advertising contribute today to the construction of collective imagination and dynamics of consensus. Through examples drawn from contemporary visual culture, the workshop examined the growing role of entertainment within political narratives and the impact of AI on communication processes in the post-truth era, characterized by narrative fragmentation, hyperconnectivity and new forms of representation of identity and conflict.
The Erasmus experience in Ghent also provided an opportunity for international discussion around GeniaLAB, AANT’s research hub dedicated to the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital culture and design practices. The dialogue with students and lecturers from different European contexts opened new perspectives for research and collaboration on the ongoing transformations in visual communication, audiovisual culture and contemporary design.