Artistic Representations of Suffering

Artistic Representations of Suffering takes readers on a journey that is painful and ethically complex. It is a book for readers who want to move beyond despair. -- Joanna Bourke, author of War and Art: A Visual History of Modern Conflict and professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London
For anyone interested in the intersection of human suffering, human rights, and creative practice, this collection of essays assembled by professors Celinscak and Hutt provides an important and timely overview of the state of the art in scholarly thinking about what art and artists have (and have had) to say about the experience of traumatic violence during war and genocide. Contributors draw deeply from many different disciplines and sites of interdisciplinary production, artistic genres and cultural traditions, theoretical perspectives, historical periods, and conflicts. In doing so they grapple with some of the thorniest questions complicating our understanding of what it means to represent others’ suffering, how such representations have and should practically be undertaken, and what purposes they might and do serve. The contributors represent a compelling ‘who’s who’ of leading thinkers in this area – established as well as emerging scholars, artists, activists, and scholar-practitioners. At a time when the struggle to defend human rights and secure social and political justice has intensified globally in the face of armed conflicts, growing right-wing extremism, and illiberal nationalisms, this volume’s contributions speak loudly for art’s power to illuminate the lives of others, heal wounds, and foster reconciliation and mutual respect. -- Adam Muller, professor and director, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manitoba
What does it mean to respond to atrocity with creative talent, be it photography, art or drama? Thought-provoking and wide-ranging in scope, this readable volume offers case studies of interventions undertaken by those whose imagination and skill provided hope, empathy or resilience. An important collection offering new insights into the healing potential of the arts. -- Suzanne Bardgett, head of research, Imperial War Museum Institute, UK
This volume is valuable due to its diversity of approaches, its varied notions of art, and the different kinds of suffering it discusses. Whereas in the last two decades, most reflections on suffering within art focused on the Holocaust, the scope of this volume broadens and extends such reflections into a variety of other contexts. * Holocaust and Genocide Studies *