More and more people are awake. They are concerned with the decolonisation of society, fighting oppression and eliminating inequality. They are ‘woke’ – a word that is also used by their adversaries, but then in a negative sense, and has therefore become a nickname. Something similar applies to ‘politically correct’ (why the hell would you want to be politically incorrect?) and to ‘cancelled’: the exclusion or boycotting of people who intimidate or otherwise misbehave (isn’t that allowed?). 

It is all a bit confusing, but the intensions are good. Because who wouldn’t want poverty, discrimination, transgressive behaviour, animal abuse and climate change to disappear and be replaced by security, diversity and inclusiveness? Although I personally don’t often agree with the external consequences of the so-called woke culture, I do miss one very important thing in the wide range of moralising allegations, and that is the emancipation of the image. The relationship between text and image has been out of balance for too long. I think we can add this issue to the list. 

Image discrimination
The image is still undervalued in relation to text and I, as a designer, see this as a misconception. To me, it feels like discrimination. And that is not woke! The image is often seen by linguists as relaxation, at best an illustration to accompany their intelligent inventions, and I take that as an insult. In many museums, images by visual artists are still given tiny, traditional text labels, written by old-fashioned art historians – as if nothing has happened since Willem Sandberg introduced the white wall in 1938.

The museum as white cube is completely outdated. Practical-focused educational courses, such as art academies, have a lower rating than universities, where mainly theory is taught. We should know better by now; fleeting visual impressions like browsing and swiping that once stood for superficiality now have the potential to become the most important communication concepts in human culture, a new language without language. I am convinced of this. The days of books and newspapers are coming to an end. The image directly communicates content. No more or less carefully than letters and words. It is sometimes ambiguous of even untruthful, but don’t tell me that text by definition always states the truth. 

The woke culture is perhaps a fleeting fad, but let’s use it while it lasts (until the next hype) and liberate the image from all unwarranted suspicions, claims and codes. Just make a list of image discriminating institutes, people, objects and exhibitions and share it on your social media account. Join the emancipation of the image. Images belong to everyone!

When the goal has been reached and the revolution is complete, I will personally delete this piece of text.