You Are Our Only True Link with the Free World, 2025 - ongoing
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is one of the institutions created during the Cold War. It is now threatened with closure following the order of March 14, 2025 signed by the American president, Donald Trump.
The title of my project "You are our only true link with the free world" is a sentence that reportedly comes from a letter sent from communist Poland to RFE in the 1950s. Through my project, I delve into the archives of the international broadcaster, which was in the shadow of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) between 1949 and 1971. The latter supervised and financed it. Then afterwards, the radio was supported by the American Congress via an annual grant.
RFE/RL has long been the United States' most effective propaganda instrument in Europe. For this reason, I am interested in providing new insight into RFE/RL’s photographs and archival materials.
Photographs played a crucial role in the Cold War. For this reason, the RFE Public Affairs Department used photography for propaganda (e.g. portraits of famous actors, musicians or astronauts invited to RFE/RL’s studio) and documentation (e.g. balloon-leaflet operations). Due to the secrecy of the radio activities and isolated border areas where some RFE/RL’s operations took place, only a few people could experience them in person. Consequently, photographs were designed to fill this gap. These pictures are an essential source of information about special operations organised by American radio in Europe. Moreover, they are among the rare physical remnants of the Cold War that were not buried in the past.
