PEACE PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION and EXHIBITION!
We are excited to be teaming up with PRISMA photography magazine to run a photography competition on the theme ‘Visualising Peace’. We are keen to see how people all around the world, in different contexts and communities, understand peace – from inner peace to geopolitical or even cosmic peace, past, present and future.
The deadline for entries was 31st March 2024, and a selection of photographs will be exhibited at a local showcase in St Andrews on 18th April (7.30-10pm, Sandy’s Bar at the Student Union) in the lead-up to PRISMA announcing the winner in the April issue. Please join us to browse shortlisted entries, celebrate with winners, and think about what peace looks like to you! You can read more about this project here.
RESPONSIBLE DEBATE: a key principle of peace-keeping and peace-building. Throughout March, we will be hosting a series of debates to explore the role that social media can play in peacebuilding. More details here.
Picturing Peace in Congo: 5th June-18th July 2023, Byre Theatre, St Andrews
This photography exhibition showcases the courageous work of women fighting to restore peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Through a series of colourful images and portraits, photojournalist Hugh Kinsella Cunningham shines a light on this forgotten conflict. The project is unique in its effort to document the slow work of peace and the determination of women who advocate for human rights, justice and security in their conflict-affected communities.
Hosted by the University of St Andrews’ Visualising War and Peace project, this exhibition invites viewers to look at peace and peace-building from new perspectives. The photographs on display were commissioned by National Geographic. Hugh Kinsella Cunningham is a grantee of the Pulitzer Centre on Crisis Reporting, was a finalist for the Amnesty International Media Awards in 2022 and 2023, and won first prize in the Documentary category of the Sony World Photography Awards 2023.
To find out more, please visit our exhibition website. You can browse our exhibition booklet below. We are excited to be teaming up with educational charity Never Such Innocence to run workshops for local schools on 6th and 7th June in connection with the exhibition. For more information, please email us at [email protected].
‘What does peace mean to you?’ This question could start some of the most important conversations of your life…
Peace in St Andrews: 1-3pm, 7th April, 2023, Parliament Hall
The Visualising Peace research team hosted an interactive panel discussion on the 7th of April in St Andrews, in order to spark conversation within our local community about what peace looks and feels like to different people. The event was designed to offer participants an inclusive, exploratory space, where we discussed how we understand, imagine and experience peace in the context of our everyday lives. Four speakers with different kinds of expertise (in politics, mediation, and academia, plus a student perspective) got the conversation rolling with a short (5-minute) reflection each on what peace means to them; this was followed by some small-group exercises and plenary discussion. We think that the more we talk, share and learn about peace and peace-building, the more we will be able to foster and promote peace in our everyday lives – so we relished the opportunity to start some rich conversations.