What is a Peacepainting Exhibition?

A Peacepainting Exhibition consist of paintings made by children and adults in a context of equality between people and nations. In our workshops, we take the participants seriously and let them express themselves via painting. The results can be a very beneficial and a deeply transformative experience for the participants. When these paintings are exhibited, they also raise awareness on various topics in society.

With each painting, the children create a title and text that are exhibited with the painting.

Experience A Unique Exhibition

“Everybody in the management building at Akershus Fortress highly appreciated the Peacepainting Exhibition in our workplace. The children have important messages through their paintings. I hope others can have the pleasure of having the paintings after us.”

- Grete Faremo, Former Norwegian Minister of Defense

“Through grants, Nordland County Council has shown great faith in Peacepainting as a method for working with human rights, equality and peace, and as a successful method for integration”

- Nordland County Council, Norway

Direct, authentic and real

Once you experience a Peacepainting exhibition, you will notice that every painting has a certain depth. The paintings are very stimulating in part because they are raw, authentic and easily relatable to individuals and society. They often pin-point good or bad things in a direct and easily-understood way, yet also in a symbolic way.

One does not need to have any understanding of art in order to benefit from the exhibitions. The paintings are made by children who naturally create authentic, relatable and sometimes even very funny messages that are worth listening to. Not only is it very positive for individuals that their messages are valued, it can also be transformative for the person who receives the message.

Sometimes our exhibitions consist of a single painting, sometimes they are a collection of paintings from participants all over the world.

The paintings have also been used as gifts, e.g. when Aung San Suu Kyi came to Norway to give her Nobel Peace Prize speech in 2012.

“Art enriches, informs and questions our world”

Dennis Dake, Iowa State Univeristy

The exhibitions become particularly powerful when the paintings come from conflicted areas and we know the background of the participants, (e.g. our workshops in North Korea and on the refugee camp for Syrian refugees in Lebanon).

All paintings have the same size and a simple, nordic frame design that can be universally fit to a great variety of paintings and surroundings. The paintings are also accompanied by a title and sometimes a text made by the participant, as well as the participant’s name and country.

Are you interested in having an exhibition?