This year has seen shocking and devastating developments on a global scale. The Russian war against Ukraine certainly affected our attempts of comprehending international affairs, and advancing peace more broadly appears rather illusionary in these times. When one year comes to an end – especially such a calamitous one – the hopes for the next year to bring better news are high.
The end of this months, however, does not only mark the end of the year 2022, but it also marks the end of the research project “Peace Videography”, funded by the Kone foundation. Once again, we would like to express our gratitude to our donor for the generous support, but also use this moment to share some of the most important events related to the project this year.
We are proud that we have been able to add another artwork to the three previously commissioned ones. ‘Peace’ by Hermann Sebastian Schultz is a 4,5m x 1,75m oil painting accented with a sound installation made in collaboration with Santeri Pilli. The artwork strives towards raising questions about what we collectively think about when we think about peace. Can peace and conflict coexist simultaneously? Can social conflict play a role in establishing or maintaining peace? Are we currently experiencing peace? If so, what kind of peace? The other three artworks commissioned by imageandpeace.com can be found here.
Moreover, we are happy to have recently published a new article with the journal Peacebuilding, titled “Active looking: images in peace mediation”, in which we explore how narrative-based mediation can be improved by including visual images. In addition, Membrana: Journal of Photography, Theory and Visual Culture has published our article, written together with Rune Saugmann, “The Photographic Disappearance and Reappearance of Skin Colors” where we engage with the seeming disappearance of skin color from Richard Mosse’s photography of migration and its effect on whiteness. Ultimately, we argue, this space of invisibility is a space where whiteness can confront itself.
These articles add to our articles “Messiness in Photography, War and Transitions to Peace” (Media, War and Conflict) and “Looking at War and Peace – The Visual Representation of Bosnia and Herzegovina” (the German journal Südosteuropa Mitteilungen), which have appeared earlier this year.
Finally, imageandpeace has been present at diverse academic and interdisciplinary conferences such as Helsinki Photomedia and we have shared several exhibition reviews and other essays with our readers. You can find all our blog posts in the NEWS section of our website.
Despite the end of “Peace Videography”, imageandpeace.com will be back next year, so visit our website regularly to stay tuned for analyses on and updates about the intersection between visual culture and peace.
For you as well as your family and friends, we wish you a pleasant turn of the year.