War artists are paradoxical figures. They are tricky to define. In some countries, such as Canada and Australia, they are part of an officially recognized discipline, supported and financed by the armed forces. In other cases, they are soldiers simply feeling the need to translate their battle scars into pieces of art. Sometimes, even, it is artists reframing state-sponsored footage to subvert its meaning. What unites them is the perspective they adopt, question or critique; that of the military, the institution of war.
War art is certainly not propaganda, but creating within a militarized framework, one that is so intently designed to curate its own image, comes with its challenges. This program examines five short documentaries that reveal the inherent tension that arises when the camera’s gaze meets an institution like the military. The artist is holding the camera, but who—really—is controlling the frame?
This program is curated by Jason Todd.
Content warning: this program contains scenes of violence and war
Dmytro “Orest” Kozatskyi
Yuliia Hontaruk
Kamal Aljafari
Kamal Aljafari
Sophie Dupuis
Susan Norrie
Halyna Lavrinets
Dominic Angerame