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FOR PEACE! Exhibition Opening
May 8 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm BST
8th May – 24th May
at Four Corners Gallery, London E2 0QN
Exhibition Opening: Thursday 8th May, 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Building on our recently opened exhibition For Peace! at Glasgow Women’s Library, an iteration of the show will now be coming to Four Corners Gallery in London!
Drawing on archives from MayDay Rooms and the Four Corner’s collection, we revisit the peace movement’s material history, trying to better understand the diversity of tactics and intersecting movements which have shaped it. As European states enter a new cycle of rearmament, this exhibition speaks to those hoping for and struggling for peace.
We orient the history of the peace movement away from a few well-known campaigns to highlight little-known histories that are nonetheless integral to the struggles for a demilitarised world. For Peace! interweaves historical strands from Women’s Liberation, anti-colonial, socialist, anarchist and workers’ movements, to address questions of non-violence, class, international solidarity and the role of liberation struggles.
For Peace! is structured around two gestures of the peace movement. Looking inwards, we feature efforts to disarm the British state and remove US bases. Looking outwards, we showcase international networks of solidarity and highlight the colonial legacy of global weapons infrastructure. Running through these narratives, we highlight the role of the workers’ movement in anti-militarist actions, as well as historical critiques of pacifism and non-violence, which are often associated with the peace movement. We also present some current campaigns to demilitarise education, to stop the arms trade and against the genocide of Palestinians.
Featuring campaigns from the last 100 years, the exhibition combines original printed materials, banners, badges, photos, audio interviews, video footage.