One of my favorite subjects to study in art history was the way an art movement unified a country or region during the time of war, rallies and despair. The first movement that comes to mind when thinking of this sort of unification is the Dada movement. In response to World War I, artists like Hans Arp, Marcel Duchamp and Hans Richter took over the art scene in Europe and North America. They hoped their art could evoke peace and bring an end to the nasty war. Similar to the way individual artists came together to form a movement, Abdulnasser Gharem, a contemporary artist in Saudi Arabia is forming a peacemaking art foundation, the Amen Foundation. “Amen” is an important term found in the Islamic, Jewish and Christian religions and is Gharem’s initial attempt to bring peace throughout the Middle East.
Leading Saudi soldier-artist sets up peacemaking art foundation