On April 12, 2021, she gave a virtual guest lecture on “Zionistische Sichtbarkeiten: Fotografie und Nation in Palästina“. The talk was part of a joint research colloquium of the Department of Contemporary History, the Department of History and European Ethnology and the Department of Ancient History and Ancient Oriental Studies at the University of Innsbruck.
In her lecture, Grossmann discussed photography as a tool to picture various visions of a future Jewish state in Mandatory Palestine. In this way, photography offers new insights into the debate on different conceptions of Jewish statehood in the 1920s and 1930s. The lecture put a focus on the photographers, propagandists and photo agents at this time. Dr. Grossmann talked about how the photographs provide insights into their expectations and the challenges they faced, as well as the opportunities photography offered them as a political language.
Dr. Noam Zadoff, Assistant Professor at the Department of Contemporary History, moderated the online lecture, with about 70 people attending. The insightful presentation by Rebekka Grossmann was very well received by the audience and AIANI, as well as the organizers of the joint research colloquium, want to thank everyone who participated and especially Dr. Grossmann for a very interesting talk.