The exhibition brings together artists from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda and Timor-Leste to explore how visual artists address the trauma of war and life after conflict. In the last thirty years, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda and Timor-Leste each emerged from different versions of social and human destruction caused by the genocide of hundreds of thousands of people. Understandably, peace following war is hard work, and life in a post-conflict society is very different in each of these countries.

Art of Peace: Art After War offers occasions for the voices and experiences of artists resident in zones of significant turbulence to visualise and tell their own stories. With the public awareness of war and genocide increasingly prominent, this exhibition is a timely occasion to consider the human consequences of international and civil aggressions, and the way artists engage with and process the resulting social and psychological upheavals.

The international artists in the show include Teta Chel, Innocent Nkurunziza, and Cedric Mizero from Rwanda; Bernardino Soares, Inu Bére, and Maria Madeira from Timor-Leste; and Mladen Miljanović, Aida Šehović and Adela Jušić from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

This exhibition is one outcome of an Australian Research Council grant project led by Curtin University in partnership with The Art Gallery of Western Australia. Key to the project were teams of experts with close relationships to each of the countries included in the exhibition. The project was led by Kit Messham-Muir; working alongside Vannessa Hearman from Curtin University; academic Wulan Dirgantoro from University of Melbourne; Uroš Čvoro from University of New South Wales; Talia Leiber from University of California, Los Angeles; Sarah Minslow from California State University Los Angeles; the late Paul Lowe from University of the Arts London; and former official Australian war artists Charles Green and Jon Cattapan.

The project aims to provide a view on the visual arts practices emerging from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda and Timor-Leste as they reconcile after enduring brutal conflict and genocide. While there is much pain and trauma in evidence here, there is equally hope, humour and patience fuelled by a spirit towards a more positive future.

The exhibition component is curated by Curtin University Professor Kit Messham-Muir, AGWA’s Curator of Contemporary Art, Robert Cook, and ex-AGWA associate curator, and now independent curator and writer, Bahar Sayed.