The Politics of Artists in War Zones: Art in Conflict

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This volume explores the role contemporary art plays within conversations around war and imperialism, bringing together chapters from leading international contemporary artists, theorists and curators, alongside the voices of contemporary war artists through original edited interviews. What exactly is contemporary war art in the West today The Politics of Artists in War Zones considers the place of contemporary war art in the 2020s, a whole generation after 9/11 and long past the War on Terror. It addresses newly-emerged contexts in which war is found: not only sites of contemporary conflicts such as Ukraine, Yemen and Syria, but everywhere in western culture, from social media to culture wars. With interviews from official war artists working in the UK, the US, and Australia, such as eX de Medici (Australia) and David Cotterrell (UK), as well as those working in post-colonial contexts, such as Baptist Coelho (India), the editors reflect on contemporary processes of memorialisation and the impact of British colonising in Australia, India and its relation to historical conflicts. It focuses on three overlapping themes: firstly, the role of memory and amnesia in colonial contexts; secondly, the complex role of official war art; and thirdly, questions of testimony and knowing in relation to alleged war crimes, torture and genocide. Richly illustrated, and featuring three substantial interview chapters, The Politics of Artists in War Zones is a hands-on exploration of the complexities and challenges faced by war artists that contextualises the tensions between the contemporary art world and the portrayal of war. It is essential reading for researchers of fine art, curatorial studies, museum studies, conflict studies and photojournalism.

Author Bio

Kit Messham-Muir, Professor in Art, School of Media, Creative Arts and Social Inquiry, Curtin University, Australia, and Uro Cvoro, Associate Professor of Art Theory, Arts, Design & Architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia are the authors of Images of War in Contemporary Art: Terror and Conflict in the Mass Media (Bloomsbury, 2021) and The Trump Effect in Contemporary Art and Visual Culture: Populism, Politics, and Paranoia (Bloomsbury, 2022). Monika Lukowska-Appel is Research Assistant for Art in Conflict at Curtin University, Australia.