Peace women across the globe

In 2006 the women’s rights organization asked Els to exhibit 1000 pictures of peace women.
The exposition has been to Brussels, Gent, Oostende and Antwerp and is still traveling through Belgium. Organizations in Switzerland have been asking to use the soundtrack.

The exposition exists of a screen divided in fourths, eight panels, a little house and a soundtrack. This is what Els says about the soundtrack: “To bring the exposition to life, I traveled all over Antwerp recording fellow patriots of the 1000 peace women. My wish was that all 1000 names could be recorded by native speakers of the 140 different nationalities/native languages. I eventually managed to find about 100 languages or dialects. The rest was recorded by women abroad and some friends of mine.
It was an interesting quest with various and unexpected hurdles. Several participants in the project actually struggled with the Western alphabet and some of them couldn’t read it or were even illiterate. Some women were distrustful and others could only participate after permission of husband or brother.
Most of them however were very eager to join in and do their very best.

The Exhibition, 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe

From the early days of the 1000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize 2005 project we looked for ways to reach out to the public, to quietly but powerfully put across an understanding of peace that is comprehensive and based on human security, and to project the faces and voices of peacewomen.  The travelling exhibition has been one of our most effective tools for achieving these aims.
The exhibition was designed by a Swiss Design Company (Atelier Oi), who transformed our documentation of peacewomen into a light weight and flexible travelling PeaceWomen exhibition. The exhibition first opened in October 2005 in Zurich, Switzerland, and soon after began touring the world.

Goal of the exhibition

The exhibition's goal is to provide information about the existence and the importance of the peacework of women. Our target audience are all the people around the world: pupils, students, men and women, politicians, organisations, everyone can host and view our exhibition. “The core of the exhibition are the 1000 postcards that can be shown in many different ways (see enclosed photographs). Additionally we recommend that a supporting programme be developed to make the exhibition more interactive and to inform the people about PWAG's concept of peace for which the exhibition is an ideal visualisation.” Examples of such programmes can be: Lectures from texts of the book, panel discussion on peacework with peacewomen from the region and politicians or organisations involved in a certain area, showing one of the documentary films, guidance through the exhibition, programmes for schools, selling the book.

The 1000 cards

The exhibition consists of 1000 postcards in the format 14 x 20 cm. The front shows the name and picture of the woman (as far as there is one), a quotation from her and her country and region of origin. The back of the card is designed like a postcard and has a short description of the work the woman does.
The cards are in 10 different colours according to ten thematic areas of work: reconciliation and reconstruction; women's rights – human rights on the way to gender democracy; the struggle for survival: minorities and indigenous peoples; economic rights and livelihood; justice and peace; stopping the hidden war against women: women, health and peace; a thousand ways to educate for a global culture of peace; women's efforts for environmental justice and ecological security; a cultural conception of peace, politics and governance. The exhibition set includes a color code (see enclosed photographs).