Artists at War — Giving Voice to Artists Affected by Wars and Brutalities of Our Times
Artists at War is a multi-media site of interviews with and views of artists living in war zones, or as war refugees from conflict zones, exiled into adopted countries, waging global art wars to make audible the fears, horrors, and plights of oppression, ethnic cleansing, tyranny and near annihilation. It is also stories of those who were in some way or another, physical and psychological victims of wars which have ravaged the region in the aftermath of 9/11.
The site currently offers interviews with four artists: Berj Kailian (Painter, Armenian Genocide survivor), Sam Bak (Painter, Jewish Holocaust survivor), Rania Kinge (Social Entrepreneur, jewelry designer — Damascus, Syria) and Nada Abu Taleb (Painter — Sana’a, Yemen). Each artist’s page includes links to social media sites that allow visitors to connect and engage directly with the artists. Additional interviews will be posted on ongoing basis.
The inspiration behind the site were two major events that took place in 2015. The world commemorated the 100th anniversary of the last century’s first ethnic cleansing when 1.5 Armenians were annihilated with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to the neighboring countries. The year 2015 also marked the worst migration crisis since WWII with the exodus of 60 MILLION refugees and displaced individuals worldwide.
There’s a stark, painful dichotomy in this reality which brings to light the obvious unlearned lessons of our history as we attest “never again” yet orders of new wars are signed into action….signing away in essence humanity’s destruction.
In 2015 our “modern, civilized” world marked the worst migration crisis since World War II bringing to life two significant numbers as billowing wakeup calls:
60 MILLION — number of refugees and displaced individuals worldwide
$100 BILLION — the annual cost of this displacement
[source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre]
From the Balkans to the Middle East to Southeast Asia and Eastern Europe the ravaging ethnic, territorial, religious wars have razed through countless lands, giving birth to an exodus of 60 million refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) worldwide [source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The chaos and mayhem documented, reported on, and shared by western powers’ pseudo-news teams are mere snippets of reality. Our senses have become immune to images of mutilated, dead bodies strewn across fields where livestock once grazed. Live video footage of bloody obliteration are “sophisticated” military industrial show-offs creeping into our comfortable, safe haven living rooms where we are untouched by the anarchy our tax dollars, and more importantly our silence, has allowed.
Artists at War brings voices of artists living in war zones through video and printed interviews, gallery of artists works, and social media links of the artists who are at war armed with their art. Exploring Artists at War as an online museum updated in real-time, means visitors can instantly engage with the artist.
