Not About Bombs

            Walking into the National Veterans Art Museum I was greeted by 2-3 foot tall ceramic penguins tethered to grey cardboard replicas of drones via a long red string. This is the work of U.S. military and combat veteran Ash In this same gallery space there is the permanent display The Things They Carried, a collection of objects that represent the items of war that were carried by Vietnam Veterans throughout the course of their deployments. The Things They Carried, inspired by Tim O’Brien’s novel of the same name, serves to offer a look into the narrative of day-to-day life of a U.S. military combat veteran stationed in Vietnam.

            After looking through a couple more gallery rooms of art work by U.S. veterans I came to the show that I was there for: Not About Bombs. Entering the gallery space I’m not sure exactly what to expect. I’m excited by the name of the show. It suggests works of art that are engaged in the conversation of war yet at the same time not directly addressing the typical motif of combat and carnage. What I found did not disappoint. The artwork in the show consisted mainly of photographs; digitally manipulated pictures of a young man suspended somewhere between a free-fall and flight over a landscape I assume to be Iraq or Afghanistan, a simple black and white documentary style photograph of women dressed in black robes standing in a line waiting to vote, a grid of ten images depicting a woman assuming different identities, a gridded series of two women in black robes, faces obscured, struggling within the confines of a small, white, padded room. While the artwork provides a platform for discussion of multiple aspects of war or conflict it is not the artwork itself that has prompted me to write a review of this show. Rather, it is the context in which this show exists.

            Since it’s founding in 1981, the National Veterans Art Museum has been dedicated to showing the work of U.S. military veterans. Starting out as the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum, its mission was to showcase work exclusively from Vietnam War veterans. With the onset of two major wars in Afghanistan and Iraq the museum realized the importance of creating a dialogue around these conflicts while they were still happening. Learning from Vietnam, the museum understood that waiting to have conversations about war and the affects of war could be detrimental, the conversation should be started earlier rather than later. Thus, starting in 2003 the museum started accepting and showing work from veterans of all wars and in 2010 dropped Vietnam from its name making it the National Veterans Art Museum.

            However, something was still missing from the conversation of war and conflict. Not About Bombs has served to help close that gap in the conversation. For the first time in its history the museum has opened its doors and walls to the work of non-U.S. military veterans. Not About Bombs showcases contemporary art from Iraqi women. The show is sponsored by the Iraqi and American Reconciliation Project. The idea of reconciliation is what really drives this exhibition and the National Veterans Art Museum is a great place to present this conversation. Our history far too often presents a one sided, polarized view of war and conflict. American society has been hung up on ideas of patriotism. We must honor those who have served to protect our country and our freedoms. Our focus should be on the sacrifices that our military makes for us. We often let slip from our collective conscious that there are others, or perhaps more accurately, Others, that are being affected by these same conflicts. Reconciliation can only start when both sides are acknowledged, when both sides have equal representation at the table of conversation. Not About Bombs serves to provide that space. While this is a good first step my critique of this show is its segregation. While the museum gives space to both sides of the conversation they exist within the space independently of each other. In order to push the idea of reconciliation there needs to exist a coexistence, not the this-side-that-side dichotomy Not About Bombs offers.