war
I wanted to say something and ‘borrowed’ more powerful work than my own to do so.
I wanted to say something about what is happening to the bodies & minds of children, to brothers & sisters, to young people, to mothers & fathers, to grandmothers & grandfathers in Gaza, Palestine. To their pets, homes, and possessions: their photographs, clothing, toys. To their health and their future.
“I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee.
“I have also told them not to work for companies which make massacre machinery, and to express contempt for people who think they need machinery like that.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five, Or The Children’s Crusade : A Duty-dance with Death (1969)
Follow the Tate link to find out more about the Kathe Kollwitz series of woodcuts titled War.
Like many, I am familiar with Kathe Kollwitz’s great skill and mastery in emotional imagery addressing war. She lost one of her two sons to WW1. She lost her grandson to WW2.
Like many, I have read Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, a great writer and literary artist who as a prisoner of war (in WW2) experienced the firebombing of Dresden, Germany.
I do not claim copyright to the work of Kathe Kollwitz and use it for non-commercial purposes of education & commentary.
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