Writings about Kontora Mir

Picturing Peace

RHIZOME | Wed Oct 2nd, 2002 8 a.m.

‘What are you thinking?’ asked Vito Pace, the artist behind ‘Kontora Mir.’ In reply, he received images from Europe, Russia and North America, including those of champagne, two old men in a cafe, a toy boat on a sea of feathers, a woman reading Chekhov in a bubble bath, and more. With no imposed commentary, the project presents a kind of visual group meditation on the multiplicity of associated meanings. Viewers should draw their own conclusions since Pace positions himself as the passive transmitter: ‘the images I recieve, I send back out to the world.’ Send him yours. – Helen Varley Jamieson

 

Mir not Mur

RHIZOME | Fri Nov 26th, 2004 8 a.m.

In 2001, Vito Pace began collecting images from artists that expressed their ideas about ‘Kontora Mir’ (office of peace) and publishing them on the web. Started in Russia, today the site contains more than 100 images from all over the world. Now, Pace hopes to raise awareness about the Palestinian struggle for independence by linking the Kontora Mir project to Electronic Intifada, a site publishing news, commentary, analysis, and reference materials about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from a Palestinian perspective. The arts section of this site includes a review of the award-winning film ‘Mur’ (Wall), documenting Israel’s construction of a concrete dividing wall on Palestinian land. In another creative protest against the wall, three muralists from Mexico are working with local and international artists to deface and decorate it. As it says on the site, history has shown us that building walls rarely solves conflicts. We need mir, not more mur.- Helen Varley Jamieson



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