Communications. Media. Design

The Museumification of Corporate History: Between Communication Conveyor and Storage

2026-06-18T08:53:02+03:00

This paper explores the role of corporate museums within contemporary Russian companies, particularly focusing on how they handle corporate history. It delves into the complex nature of these institutions, which exist at the intersection of preserving historical heritage and serving managerial goals to shape corporate identity and image. The research is based on extensive interviews with museum professionals and senior managers, along with the author's observations. The results show that Russian corporate museums are multifaceted, serving various functions such as artifact curation, career guidance, public relations, and hosting delegations. They predominantly engage with the past through "rhetorical history," which involves selectively presenting and idealizing historical narratives to enhance the company's image. Key challenges include the museums' marginal position within corporate structures, limited resources, and a corporate aversion to formalizing their status, largely due to perceived high costs. The analysis reveals that this instrumental approach to corporate history leads museums to function primarily as "showcases of success" rather than as platforms for critically examining the organizational past, including its less favorable aspects.

Verbopictorial Play in Visual Political Communication

2026-06-21T14:04:25+03:00

This article explores the techniques designers employ to enhance attractivity of multimodal texts functioning in visual political communication. The findings show that in semiotically complex texts both verbal and pictorial elements can be involved in play. Bearing on it, we analyze models of verbopictorial play used in British and American political posters.

Reverberation of Memory as a Metaphor: From Silence to a New Sound (Using the Example of the Film by J. Trier's «Sentimental Value»)

2026-06-18T08:52:59+03:00

The author analyzes episodes from Joachim Triers film «Sentimental Value» (2025) from the perspective of the «silent text» and its components: silence, pause, and unspoken. The criteria for «silent text» are defined based on a study of the work of Nobel laureate playwright Jon Fosse and projected onto the film's theme and concept. Conversational silence, as a communicative and existential category, is associated with soundlessness; the article examines their connection to the phenomenon of reverberation. Reverberation is presented not only as an acoustic and neurophysiological phenomenon but also as a mental and spiritual metaphor. These analogies make reflection of the film’s characters’ moral quest and rebirth more comprehensively.

Vintage Clothing Narratives: Attempt at Reconstruction

2026-06-18T08:53:08+03:00

This paper explores the stories embedded in vintage clothing through two case studies: a vintage jacket and a dress from the late 1950s to mid-1960s. The central question is: Can we reconstruct the fashion narratives these objects convey? We employ an object-based research method, examining the cut, material, tags, and wear traces of the garments. These findings are then compared with texts from didactic publications, fashion periodicals, fiction, and autobiographical prose of the era, which offer insights into clothing choices, combinations, etiquette, and sewing skills. Both official and unofficial fashion discourses reveal similarities and differences, providing a balanced view of recommended attire. The study demonstrates that combining object research with fashion narrative analysis can address questions about vintage clothing's purpose, price range, and appropriateness for specific situations and age groups. However, it falls short in evaluating compliance with ideal closet criteria or typological compatibility with the owner's appearance. To uncover these narratives, it's essential to delve into the biographical backgrounds of the garments' original owners.

From Fast Fashion to Digital Fashion: Environmental and Economic Consequences of Virtualization of The Fashion Industry

2026-06-18T08:52:55+03:00

The article explores the fashion industry's transformation due to modern technology and the environmental crisis. It examines the shift from fast fashion to digital fashion, focusing on virtual collections, NFT assets, and digital shows. The fast fashion model, marked by overproduction, waste, resource consumption, and labor exploitation, faces systemic problems. Digital fashion offers an alternative, using virtual avatars and AI-driven designs. The study's object is the global fashion industry from 2020 to 2025. The subject is the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural impacts of digitalization. The aim is to identify key transformations and assess the sustainability of digital fashion. The methodology includes a comparative and systematic analysis of scientific publications, reports, and empirical data on digital fashion platforms, NFT markets, and virtual ecosystems. The article discusses the technological foundations of digital fashion, such as AI, blockchain, generative algorithms, and VR/AR. It also examines institutional changes in business models, value chains, virtual fashion shows, and hybrid consumption. Environmental and social paradoxes are highlighted: while digital fashion reduces material waste, it increases energy consumption and digital inequality. The research's practical significance lies in its potential to inform ESG strategies, regulatory policies, and educational programs for sustainable fashion development.

The Era of Media Convergence: Transformation of Advertising Art in Modern Mass Media

2026-06-18T08:56:22+03:00

This article examines the influence of media convergence processes on the evolution of advertising art as a sociocultural and communicative phenomenon. Drawing on theoretical analysis of the concepts of M. McLuhan, H. Jenkins, E.L. Vartanova, J.D. Bolter and R. Grusin, as well as empirical analysis of specific advertising cases in the digital environment, the author demonstrates that media convergence leads not merely to a change in distribution channels, but to a profound transformation of the nature of the advertising message. It becomes interactive, personalized, multimodal, and organically embedded in the user's content experience. The study substantiates the hypothesis that the effectiveness of modern advertising is determined not so much by the creativity of an isolated message as by its ability to integrate into the convergent ecosystem and leverage the participatory opportunities of the audience. A three-level model for the innovative integration of advertising art with news media is proposed, based on the principles of contextuality, interactivity, and narrative coherence.

Material Memory and Visual Communication: Archival Practice in Nigerian Fabric Waste Art – The Case of Jachima Gallery

2026-06-21T14:36:51+03:00

This study examines how Lagos-based artist Chidinma Miracle Obi-Nwafor (Jachima Gallery) transforms discarded textiles into communicative artifacts that archive material histories typically erased through disposal. Based on fieldwork in Lagos, Nigeria (December 2025), including in-depth artist interview and visual analysis of fabric waste collages, the research reveals how waste materials function as visual media that communicate environmental consequences, postcolonial material flows, and counter-narratives to dominant consumption systems. Drawing on Hal Foster’s archival impulse theory and material culture frameworks, the analysis demonstrates how artists working with textile waste operate as visual archivists who preserve indexical evidence of consumption patterns, labor histories, and ecological crises. The study contributes to understanding how visual communication through reclaimed materials generates alternative knowledge orders that challenge institutional narratives. Findings illuminate the intersection of visual culture, material communication, and environmental media, showing how artistic practice transforms waste into communicative evidence within postcolonial contexts where oversaturation with Global North textile waste creates both material abundance and environmental crisis.

Hybrid Warfare, Infodemic, and the Politics of Pandemic Disinformation: Analyzing Coordinated Fake News Campaigns Targeting Iran During the COVID-19 Crisis (2020–2021)

2026-06-18T08:53:05+03:00

The COVID‑19 pandemic generated an unprecedented global infodemic, yet the strategic weaponization of health misinformation within hybrid warfare remains underexplored, particularly in sanctioned and conflict‑adjacent states. This study examines coordinated disinformation campaigns targeting Iran’s COVID‑19 response between December 2019 and September 2021. Using a sequential mixed‑methods design, over 30 million Persian‑language tweets were analyzed, including more than 21 million containing coronavirus‑related terms. Trend‑extraction across Twitter’s Persian corpus and six major Telegram channels identified 89 significant trend‑days from a 676‑day period, with approximately 200 tweets qualitatively analyzed per trend‑day. Findings identify four interrelated modalities—misinformation, strategic disinformation, weaponized mal‑information, and hybrid cognitive operations—operating to erode institutional trust and intensify pandemic anxiety. Vaccine‑related campaigns alone produced roughly 3.9 million tweets across four major events. Over 50% of all coronavirus‑related Persian tweets occurred between January and June 2020, coinciding with peak epidemiological and political uncertainty. By situating Iran as a compound‑crisis case study, the research advances information‑disorder theory and offers implications for platform governance, public health communication, and comparative analyses of hybrid disinformation in crisis environments.

Competitive Dynamics and Strategic Adaptations in Dhallywood: A Porter's Five Forces Analysis of Bangladesh's Film Industry

2026-06-18T08:53:03+03:00

This research paper explores the competitive landscape of Bangladesh's film industry through Michael E. Porter's "Five Forces Framework." It aims to uncover the key factors influencing the market dynamics in this sector. The analysis examines the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, the presence of substitute products, and competitive rivalry. The study reveals that digital technology has simplified filmmaking and entry into the industry. However, limited investment, poor infrastructure, and a lack of originality are stifling growth. The rise of OTT platforms, social media, and digital entertainment has increased viewers' bargaining power, offering a significant alternative to traditional cinema. Globalization has heightened competition by subjecting local films to international standards but also opened new distribution avenues abroad. The research concludes that strategic innovation, creativity, and digital adaptation are crucial for enhancing the industry's competitiveness and ensuring its long-term sustainability.