ExhibitionDec 10, 2020-Nov 21, 2021

Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition 2020

One of the images from the exhibition.
Photo: © Aida Muluneh for the Nobel Peace Center

The Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition 2020 is a story about food and hunger as tools in war and conflict. The acclaimed artist Aïda Muluneh has made an exclusive photo series for the Nobel Peace Center.

An exhibition about food, war and the World Food Programme.

Hunger and war is closely linked together, and food can also be a weapon of war. Destruction of crops and starvation of certain groups of people have been used as strategies in conflicts throughout history. I today's conflicts in Syria and Yemen, control over the food supplies is an important means of power. When the World Food Programme was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2020, it was for it's work to combat hunger, but also because the organisation is contributing to peace by providing food asstance to millions of people affected by war and conflict.

For this year's Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition, one of Africa’s leading photographers, Aida Muluneh, has been commissioned by the Nobel Peace Center to make a photo series on food in war and conflict. In ten powerful photos she illustrated ten different countries and conflicts where food is used as weapon.

Photo: Johannes Granseth / Nobel Peace Center

The Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition 2020 also tells the story about the World Food Programme and their work. In June and July, the short documentary Hunger Ward, abouth the health workers fighting hunger on the frontline in Yemen, is shown as a part of the exhibition.

Photo: Johannes Granseth / Nobel Peace Center

During the summer, the audience can take part in the creation of an art work inside the exhibition. In artist Espen Henningsen's installation "To Build from Above", the audience is invited to draw and write on textiles, answering the question: What does food mean to you?

"I want the installation to become a place where people can reflect over the importance of food for stability and peace in the world", says Henningsen.

The material will eventually become a curtain, inspired by the Syria curtain made by the artist Elisabeth Harr. It refers to how curtains and carpets are being used as a shield from snipers in Syria.

"The curtain also symbolises how food aid can help protect the population in conflict areas", says Asle Olsen, curator at the Nobel Peace Center.

FROM DIGITAL TO PHYSICAL EXHIBITION

The Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition 2020 opened in a digital version 10 December 2020, the same day as the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the World Food Programme (WFP). The physical exhibition will open 29 May, after the center has been closed for six months due to the corona restrictions. The exhibiton is also showing the story and work of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate WFP.

The exhibition will be available until 29 November 2021.

The exhibition is supported by Yara International (Nobel Peace Prize Celebration Partner 2020), Canon (print partner) and Bergesenstiftelsen.