Krieg / Individuum

, 2010

What is war? Why does a war arise? Who wages it? Why do people not learn from the mistakes and horrors that recur century after century? These are not questions an exhibition can answer. But it can attempt to change our attitudes regarding these issues by showing what the consequences of war look like. Since 2003, there has been a rising tide of exhibitions and publications on the themes of “terror” or the “War on Terror “ after September 11, but there are virtually no exhibitions or publications about the human condition in an era of wars conducted in the global spotlight. At the AZKM, the works of fifteen international artist shed light on the consequences of war for individuals, groups, and societies that were never asked whether they want a war or want to participate in one, de it the Second World War, the Vietnam War, the conflict in the Middle East, the Yugoslav Wars, or the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The show opens a space for dialogue to raise awareness of the—frequently ambivalent—perspectives and roles of perpetrators, victims, and spectators. Yet the images we see, every day and in the exhibition, should move us to act—they should not distract you from asking what pictures, whose cruelties, whose deaths are not being shown.