David Walsh, the arts editor of the World Socialist Web Site, will speak at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday, February 19.

Walsh’s presentation, “Art and Socialism,” will discuss the general relationship between art and society, the historical attitude of socialism toward artistic creation and the intellectual and social responsibilities of artists in the present global political situation. The talk will also consider: what is the way out of the present crisis of art?

The World Socialist Web Site devotes a good deal of space to cultural problems—both in the broader sense, the general moral state of society, the character of the media and the present political culture, the population’s self-awareness or lack of self-awareness; and also in the specific sense of artistic culture (film festivals, art and photography exhibitions, reviews of novels).

Our conception of a socialist movement is the classical Marxist one, of a movement dedicated to the political and cultural progress of the working population, so that it will understand its historical role as a revolutionary class and be prepared to construct a new international socialist society. Such a task requires the highest level of moral and cultural acuteness among the more advanced layers of students, workers, young people on a global scale.

Monday, February 19, 7:00 p.m.
Virginia Commonwealth University
University Student Commons
Virginia Rooms A-B (on the second floor to the left of the main stairway)
907 Floyd Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23284