Art in the Age of Terrorism 

12 November 2004 - 29 January 2005

 

Mireille Astore (Australia), Colin Darke (Northern Ireland), Mark Gaynor (UK), Kendell Geers (South Africa), Pia Lindman (USA), Misha Myers and Dan Harris (UK), Khaled Ramadan, Jacqueline Salloum (USA), Doron Solomons (Israel).

 

Art in the Age of Terrorism tackles one of the most difficult topics imaginable: a war that is quintessentially post-modern in its decentred identity, globalised character and confused conflict of cultures.  This exhibition explores various ways in which art can help articulate the zone of grey that lies behind the black and white term 'terrorism'. And perhaps visual art has an advantage over verbal language when it comes to 'speaking the unspeakable'.

 

The artists in this exhibition tackle terrorism in the broadest sense of the word including the cultural disorientation of the asylum seeker trying to map him or herself onto a new and sometimes hostile land. None of the artists in this exhibition offer simplistic representations, and in this sense the variety of their voices provides a valuable counterbalance to the monotone of propaganda. They offer no definitive answers except that we open our eyes and confront not only the surface but also what lies behind.

If there is a positive message stemming from this exhibition then it is one of underscoring the need for historical and inter-cultural understanding and a questioning of the rhetoric of confrontation.

 

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication containing essays on the topic of art in the age of terrorism as well as contributions on and from the artists.

 

This exhibition is in partnership with The Fine Art Research Centre and the Centre for Advanced Scholarship, Southampton Institute. The curator is Graham Coulter-Smith.