A new, timely exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, explores how rhetoric and propaganda shape our perception of war and peace.
This autumn’s major exhibition at the Nobel Peace Center presents artworks spanning three centuries, leaving visitors with an unsettling question: Has the world truly changed?
“In a time marked by global unrest, we invite the public to reflect on how war and peace are portrayed and discussed,” says Kjersti Fløgstad, Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Center. “The exhibition also raises the question of whether war can ever lead to peace.”
The group exhibition War is Peace?, opening to the public on 12 September, features works from the 19th century to the present day – from Francisco Goya’s harrowing depictions of war, through Yoko Ono’s activist pieces, to Barbara Kruger’s bold, graphic statements. Kruger is one of the most influential contemporary artists in the United States, and her slogan-based collages have been exhibited at institutions such as MoMA and the Guggenheim Bilbao. This is the first time her work is exhibited in Norway.
New Work by Marius Engh
The exhibition includes a newly commissioned piece by Norwegian contemporary artist Marius Engh. His work “Symposium”, inspired by one of Plato’s dialogues, takes the form of a bench where visitors are invited to sit and reflect. Magnum photographers Nanna Heitmann and Antoine d’Agata contribute documentary images from both historical and ongoing conflicts – from World War II and Vietnam to Syria, Ukraine, Russia, and the Middle East. Goya’s renowned series “The Disasters of War”, on loan from the archives of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, portrays the atrocities committed during the war between Spain and France in the early 1800s.
Inspired by George Orwell
The exhibition’s title is drawn from George Orwell’s iconic novel 1984, in which “War is Peace” is one of the slogans used by the ruling Party in the dystopian one-party state of Oceania. War serves to unify and pacify the population, creating a form of internal peace and societal stability.
“Even today, we encounter language that distorts reality. Fake news and propaganda spread rapidly, often amplified by authoritarian leaders and social media,” says Fløgstad. “War is Peace? examines how language influences us, and how rhetoric and propaganda can threaten both democracy and peace.”
Exhibition Facts
• Featured artists: Antoine d’Agata, Carolina Caycedo, Marius Engh, Ernst Friedrich, Francisco Goya, Nanna Heitmann, Barbara Kruger, and Yoko Ono.
• War is Peace? is curated by Asle Olsen, Nobel Peace Center.
• The exhibition is showing at the Nobel Peace Center from 12 September 2025 to 7 April 2026.