These synthages were created at Syracuse Light Work during his 2013 residency. In these Gittoes combines drawing with photographs from his work at Kibeho in 1995. In two weeks it will be the 20th Anniversary of the Kibeho Massacre in Rwanda and Gittoes hopes that these works can be useful as a reminder for contemplation.

Rubber Bands

Shadow

The Sermon

Preacher

Mother, Daughter and Oblivion

Machete 2

Machete

Kigame

Father’s Love

Discarded

Congregation 4

Cleaners

Blood and Tears

Art

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for exposing injustice for over 45 years as a humanist artist, activist and filmmaker, for his courage to witness and confront violence in the war zones of the world, for enlisting the arts to subdue aggression and for enlivening the creative spirit to promote tolerance, respect and peace with justice. (2015 Sydney Peace Prize Jury citation)

On Tuesday 10 November the Sydney Peace Prize was presented to George Gittoes at Sydney Town Hall, when Gittoes delivered the 2015 City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture.

Gittoes returned to Sydney from Afghanistan for the occasion (courtesy of Singapore Airlines) and his words resonated strongly with the Australian media.

July 7, 2016 One Plus One: George Gittoes, ABC

Feb 18, 2016 Artists without borders, Creative City Sydney (online)

Nov 18, 2015 Peace Prize artist George Gittoes joins students at Cabramatta High School to spread message, Marie Hogg, Daily Telegraph Fairfield Advance (newspaper)

Nov 17, 2015 Students delighted to host a man of peace, Kirstie Chlopicki, Fairfield City Champion (newspaper)

Nov 15, 2015 War artist awarded Sydney Peace Prize, SBS radio Filipino

Nov 14, 2015, George Gittoes’ City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture, on Australian Public Affairs Channel (A-PAC on Foxtel) 6.30am, 12.20pm, 6.10pm (television)

Nov 14, 2015, Art’s Pied Piper of Conflict, Elizabeth Fortescue, Daily Telegraph (newspaper)

Nov 12, 2015, Gittoes honoured with Peace Prize for work as humanist artist/filmmaker: gallery, Jim Gainsford, The Leader (online)

Nov 10, 2015 Listen: George Gittoes on Mornings, Greta Balog and Nicholas Watts, FBI Radio (radio)

Nov 9, 2015, Meet George Gittoes, Monique Schafter, ABC 7:30 report (television)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/_9ZefIzyZ2c

Nov 9, 2015, Artist George Gittoes to perform with giant puppets when he receives Sydney Peace Prize, Elizabeth Fortescue, Daily Telegraph (newspaper)

Nov 9, 2015, Art helps make the world a better place, David Hirsch, Sydney Morning Herald (online)

Nov 8, 2015, George Gittoes and the Sydney Peace Prize: an interview from Artwriter’s archives, Elizabeth Fortescue, Artwriter (online)

Nov 7, 2015, The Fitz Files: Monarchists reply with rallying call, Peter FitzSimons, Sydney Morning Herald (online)

Oct 31, 2015, Spiritual Esctasy: George Gittoes’s diaries reveal spiritual experiences in Afghanistan, George Gittoes, The Australian (newspaper)

Oct 21, 2015, George Gittoes with Margaret Throsby, Margaret Throsby, Radio National (radio)

Coverage of George Gittoes’ films:

Oct 9, 2015, IDFA unveils 2015 competition titles, Screen Daily

Aug 7, 2015, MIFF 2015: George Gittoes’ Afghanistan film Snow Monkey is overlong but fascinating, Sydney Morning Herald

Aug 2, 2015, MIFF 2015: George Gittoes’ Snow Monkey shows the other face of Afghanistan, Sydney Morning Herald

Media coverage of the announcement:

On Saturday 11 April the Sydney Peace Foundation announced that George Gittoes would receive the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize. Here are some links to the media coverage of the announcement so far:

Apr 17, 2015, War artist and film maker George Gittoes discusses his time in the Afghan city of Jalalabad filming with impoverished youth, The Drum, ABC TV

Apr 13, 2015, George Gittoes wins Sydney Peace Prize, ABC Radio National with Phillip Adams

Apr 11, 2015, George Gittoes and the art of war, SMH Good Weekend

Apr 11, 2015‎, George Gittoes awarded Sydney Peace Prize, Paddy Wood, Yahoo7 News

Apr 11, 2015, Artist Gittoes honoured with Sydney Peace Prize, Damien Murphy, The Sydney Morning Herald

Apr 11, 2015‎, George Gittoes is the winner of the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize, Sarah Kimmorley, Business Insider Australia

Apr 10, 2015‎, War artist and filmmaker George Gittoes wins Sydney peace prize, The Guardian

Apr 10, 2015‎, War artist George Gittoes awarded Sydney Peace Prize, SBS

Apr 10, 2015, Premi buoni e giusti. L’artista e filmmaker George Gittoes vince il Sidney Peace Prize, Exibart

Check out this preview of George Gittoes’ latest film Love City Jalalabad:

Love City Jalalabad won the Best Documentary, Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival, New York, 2015; Most Socially Relevant, Winter Film Awards Indie Film Festival, New York, 2015; and Finalist, Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize, Sydney Film Festival, 2013.

Media management of the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize courtesy to Katie Mayor at Wildspin Media. 

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Saturday 11 April

Australian artist George Gittoes AM has been selected to receive the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize. The Prize will be awarded on Tuesday 10 November at Sydney Town Hall.

The 2015 Sydney Peace Prize Jury’s citation reads:

George Gittoes AM: For exposing injustice for over 45 years as a humanist artist, activist and filmmaker, for his courage to witness and confront violence in the war zones of the world, for enlisting the arts to subdue aggression and for enlivening the creative spirit to promote tolerance, respect and peace with justice.

The Sydney Peace Prize is Australia’s only annual international prize for peace. For the past seventeen years the Sydney Peace Foundation at the University of Sydney has awarded it to someone who has made a significant contribution to peace with justice, respect for human rights and the language and practice of non-violence. Past winners include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Arundhati Roy and Noam Chomsky.

Gittoes grew up in the Sydney suburb of Rockdale and studied Fine Arts at The University of Sydney. In 1970 he helped establish The Yellow House artists collective in Kings Cross with others including Martin Sharp and Brett Whitely.

Gittoes’ activism evolved through his work as a painter, film maker and photojournalist. He has chronicled conflicts and social upheavals in places including Nicaragua, Somalia, Cambodia, Western Sahara, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Bougainville, East Timor, South Africa, Palestine, Iraq and Pakistan.

In 1995 Gittoes was a witness to the massacre of thousands of Rwandans at a displaced persons camp where they had sought protection from UN peacekeeping forces. This inspired his painting The Preacher, which won the 1995 Blake Prize for religious art.

“At a time when the world is speeding into a new cycle of war” says Gittoes, “it is inspiring the Sydney Peace Foundation values art as a way to help overcome the brutality. The award of the Sydney Peace Prize is a wonderful and unexpected honour”.

“George Gittoes is daring, brash and irreverent – qualities Australians identify with,” says David Hirsch, Chair of the Foundation. “He is also generous, open-minded and compassionate – qualities we also identify with but which have been in short supply in recent years. The Jury felt his unique approach to peacebuilding and social justice should be recognised and applauded.”

Gittoes is currently based in Jalalabad, Afghanistan – arguably the most dangerous city in the world. Against all odds, and at great personal risk from the Taliban, he has established a new Yellow House artists collective. Its mission is to bring peace and positive social change not with the weapons of war but with a broad range of creative media and strategies.

Gittoes’ documentary film Love City Jalalabad won awards for Best Documentary and Most Socially Relevant Film at the New York Winter Indie Film Festival in February this year.

Art historian Dr Rod Pattenden says “His images pry open the door to a conversation about what it means to be human at the very limits, where petty myths, tired illusions and worn-out symbols collapse. This is the dare at the heart of his practice – to activate the imagination rather than fear, and to create hope in the face of chaos.”

“I feel privileged to have been able to spend much of my life creating beauty in the face of the destruction of war” says George Gittoes. “I have been waging a personal war against war with art.”

The Sydney Peace Prize will be presented at Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday 10 November where George Gittoes will be delivering the 2015 City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture. For more information and tickets visit www.sydneypeacefoundation.org.au  Georges Gittoes website http://gittoes.com/

For more information/interviews: Kate Mayor 0434 561 056 (Media and Public Relations)

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The theme for the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize is  “The Art of Peace”, which plays on Sun Tzu’s ancient Chinese military treatise “The Art of War” that has been a manual for war makers for centuries.

This theme calls for reflection on the experience of peace with oneself, with other people, with other countries, and with our planet; and on the role of the creative arts in that pursuit. This article explores some fundamental questions surrounding the theme “The Art of Peace”: what is art, what is peace, how are art and peace related, and how will the Jury make their selection?

From paintings in caves to sculptures of feminine figures, pottery, religious monuments, architecture and paintings, art has been pivotal to the development of human consciousness, communication, culture and society. Across the world’s cultures, art is found in expressions of dance, music, fashion and literature. It is found in photography, film, blogs and video games.

The act of creating art can reflect and stir feelings of wild conflict inside artists and in their audiences. Art holds a mirror at society, and in its reflection we don’t always like what we see. Art can surface deep emotions; it can delve into the depths of what it means to be human.

Art has the power to encourage critical thinking, awareness, foster empathy, amplify voices, create visions, dialogue, build relationships, empower and inspire its audiences to work toward peace with justice (Harlap 2006: 223).

Whether art contributes to war or peace depends on how it is used. Art can and has been used as tool of propaganda and oppression. Art can and has been a tool of protest and freedom. With this theme the Sydney Peace Foundation seeks to highlight the work of artists who have contributed to global peace.

Peace is often imagined to be the absence of war. According to such a definition, a peaceful society can also be an oppressive society. A society’s laws and culture may limit the freedom of people of a specific gender, sexual preference, culture or economic standing.

To distinguish an oppressive peace from a more desirable vision of peace, we turn to consider peace with justice. This more holistic vision of peace strives for the absence of violence in all its forms. As the Founder of the Sydney Peace Foundation, Stuart Rees (2003: 20) writes:

“A just peace would be marked not only by and end to hostilities between peoples but also by fairness in social, economic and political arrangements. It would be a fairness characterised by equality of opportunity and by associated influences in the building of civil societies.”

A vision of peace with justice seeks to address discrimination against people because of their culture, gender or religion, the huge and widening gap between rich and poor, and the uncalculated use of limited planetary resources. It works toward a world in which all people have the opportunity to go to school, access health care, receive a fair wage for their work. It imagines a world where conflict is resolved through non-violent mechanisms, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is observed and experienced by all of humanity, and animals are treated with similar respect. It envisages a world where a diversity of ideas, cultures and species are valued, and where the principles of The Earth Charter are enacted in practice.

Many-a lifetimes have embodied this art, as seen in the work of the sixteen Sydney Peace Prize recipients including Noam Chomsky, Desmond Tutu, Mohammed Yunus, Mary Robinson, Arundhati Roy, and this year Julian Burnside. The art of peace is exemplified in the care and actions of these people.

As for the 2015 Sydney Peace Prize, the Foundation is seeking nominations of people whose lives not only illustrate the art of peace but, more specifically, we seek nominations of people who themselves are artists.

Over the centuries, painters, poets, musicians and performers have stood up as icons and influencers for anti-war and social justice movements across the world. Artists have worked to raise awareness and understanding of issues of inequality, oppression, bullying and discrimination.

Consider the impact of songs such as Pete Seeger’s “We Shall Overcome” and the socialist anthem “The Internationale”, Sibelius’ Finlandia’s “Song of Peace”, Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World”, Lenny Kravitz “We Want Peace”, Louis Armstong’s “What a Wonderful World”, John Lennon’s “Imagine”… the list goes on.

Sometimes directly and intentionally, and sometimes in an indirect cultural impact or unintentional, and sometimes unknown, artists can inspire large-scale contributions to peace with justice. The documentary “Sugar Man” tells the story of Sixto Rodriguez, whose music (unknown to him) provided the soundtrack to the anti-apartheid movements in South Africa.

Wilfred Owen’s Anthem for Doomed Youth and Dulce Et Decorum Est paint depressing pictures of the butchery of the First World War, that have lasted for now a century. As part of school curriculums, children are stung with the image of ‘What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?’ and ‘The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells’.

Sam Hamill’s website Poets Against the War shares tens of thousands of poems protesting the Iraq war in 2003. In Great People Distracted Stafford (1996: 25) writes of those who ‘try to impose their whole universe’ and responds ‘I can’t eat that bread’.

Paintings like Picasso’s “Dove of Peace”, “Let Us Have Peace” by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, to satirical comics and graphic artists such as Micah Ian Wright make poignant points about the irony of dominant narratives and the need for peace. Sculptures and monuments such as “Non-Violence” (The Knotted Gun) by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, remind us of alternatives to war.

Comedians such as George Carlin and Russell Brand, point to the problems in capitalism, dogmatism and in an absence of critical reflection and social justice.

Films such as Casablanca, The Help, The Lady, The Killing Fields, Avatar, and Cloud Atlas, Philadelphia, City of God, draw attention to the costs and horrors of war, the effects of colonization in Indigenous peoples, and the importance of striving for more harmonious relationships with neighbouring countries and within our own.

Angelina Jolie, Jude Law, Sophia Lauren, George Clooney, Jeremy Gilley and many others have used their profiles to advance the cause.

The work of Leo Tolstoy, Claudio Magris, Antonio Lobo Antunes, Liao Yiwu, Khaled Hosseini, Harper Lee, Paulo Coelho… the list goes on and on…. So many authors, song-writers, musicians, performers, actors, come to mind!

The Foundation is seeking nominations of individual artists or art-related organisations that demonstrate:

• Significant contributions to the achievement of peace with justice, for example steps to eradicate poverty, racial or sexual discrimination, or environmental destruction;
• A commitment to the promotion and attainment of human rights; and
• An illustration of the philosophy, language and practice of nonviolence.

The contribution may have been made through their art, or outside it. These three criteria guide the Jury’s selection process—deliberations that take place over a three-month period. The Jury is selected by the Sydney Peace Foundation Council, and is confidential after the selection process is complete.

In order to receive the Sydney Peace Prize—$50,000 plus a handcrafted trophy by Australian glass artist Brian Hirst—the nominee must be able to travel to Sydney in the second week of November 2015 to present the City of Sydney Peace Prize Lecture at Town Hall, where he or she will be awarded the Prize.

Through the awarding of this prize for peace, the people of Sydney have an opportunity to learn directly from the world’s most inspiring peacemakers. Through the international media coverage the Prize initiates and via a broadcast of the speech across the Internet, people across the world can be inspired to contribute to the evolution of a more peaceful, just and sustainable global society.

Won’t you help to sing, These songs of freedom? (Bob Marley, Redemption Song)

Submit a nomination:

In order to be considered for the Prize, a person must be nominated. To make a nomination, submit a paragraph or two describing the ways that your nominee has contributed to peace with justice, with respect to human rights and non-violence, and how the nominee might further contribute to peace with justice if they are selected to receive the prize.

Download a 2015 SPP Nomination Form (PDF) to assist with the process, and email your submission to: peace.foundation@sydney.edu.au

Post submissions to:
Sydney Peace Foundation
Mackie Building K01
University of Sydney NSW 2006.

Nominations are due by 31 August 2014.

View the call for nominations: https://sydneypeacefoundation.org.au/nominate/2015-the-art-of-peace-call-for-nominations/

For further details of the Jury process please visit: https://sydneypeacefoundation.org.au/nominate/

References:

Baraka, Amiri (1995). Transbluesency: Selected poems 1965-1995. New York: Marsilio Publishers.

Harlap, Yael. (2006). Toward training; The meanings and practices of social change work in the arts. Vancouver: Judith Marcuse Projects. http://www.ccl-cca.ca/pdfs/OtherReports/MarcuseSocialChangeInArtsEN.pdf Viewed 4 June 2014.

Rees, Stuart (2003). Passion for Peace: Exercising Peace Creatively. Sydney: UNSW Press.

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Sun Tzu’s ancient Chinese military treatise “The Art of War”has been a manual for war makers for centuries. With the centenary of the First World War upon us, stories of battles, heroism and sacrifice – all said to be in the pursuit of peace – will be the subject of much attention.

It is timely to draw attention away from battlefield and focus our minds on the role that the arts – including music, theatre, painting, film, poetry and literature – has played and can continue to play in advancing the cause of peace. Hence our theme for 2015: “The Art of Peace”.

The field may be narrower but it will be focused and highlight a particular way of expressing and advocating for peace whether it be in music or art.  Art has been enormously important – whether it be Picasso’s Dove of Peace, an image imprinted on our consciousness; Sibelius’ Finlandia, his Song of Peace; or John Lennon’s Imagine,” says Jane Singleton AM, Director of the Sydney Peace Foundation.

We are calling for the nomination of creative people or organisations that meet the criteria for the Prize.

Through The Art of Peace the Sydney Peace Foundation wants to recognise those in the arts world who have, in their own way, advanced the cause of peace in our time.

Whether it promotes reconciliation and understanding or protests injustice, and whether it encourages reflection on the horrors of war or the imagining of the world living as one, the arts have a unique capacity to shake up our minds and stir our souls.

Over the last 16 years the Sydney Peace Prize has been awarded to an individual whose efforts or achievements have demonstrated a commitment to the Foundation’s core principles: peace with justice, respect for human rights, and the language on non-violence. Some winners have been well known, others less. Sometimes the Jury’s choice has been controversial. But promoting peace in a world riven with conflict is rarely straightforward.

We want your help. Nominate someone for the Sydney Peace Prize!

We invite you to nominate persons in the world of art who you believe ought to be recognised for their contributions to peace. He or she may be Australian or from overseas, may be popular or up and coming, and may also be controversial!

To do so please complete the 2015 SPP Nomination Form and send this to us by post:

Sydney Peace Foundation
Mackie Building K01
University of Sydney NSW 2006

Or by email:   peace.foundation@sydney.edu.au

More information on the nomination process here.

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