A Photographic Exhibition: Glimmers of Hope, Pieces of Peace
There is never only one story, but countless stories of lives that a war has interrupted.
The effects of a war extend beyond battlefields, breaking families, communities, schools, water pipes, institutions, trust, and minds. Behind the political talks and propaganda, there are the experiences of individual people. Silenced stories, suppressed frustration, and unspoken anger. Other narratives include fear, escape, loss, as well as hope, solidarity, and peace.
Glimmers of Hope, Pieces of Peace is an exhibition showcasing the other stories of peace and war in Ukraine. It reveals sites of life that do not occupy the media space: mundane, personal, and emotional experiences, spaces that are reserved for care and compassion, moments that break the dominance of war.
Images of the exhibition are taken by people living life under the shadow of the war, in exile in Europe, or in Ukraine as internally displaced or returnees. The photographs are not asking for pity or revenge, but recognition and the right to exist. Giving voice to these personal narratives, the exhibition also paves the way for an alternative imagery of a war that is not only marked by desperation, destruction, and loss, but also by agency, stamina, and hope, and above all, the incessant desire for peace of the people most affected by the war.
The photographs of the exhibition are part of a research project “Finding Peace in Everyday – A Visual Exploration of The Narratives of Peace and War in Ukraine”, a dissertation research project by doctoral researcher Juulia Niiniranta, funded by Kone Foundation and conducted in Tampere Peace Research Institute TAPRI.
The exhibition will be on display at the Sibelius Museum during ABOAGORA: Venus, the Bringer of Peace from September 10 to 12, 2025.
Photo by Eva
Juulia Niiniranta is a doctoral researcher at Tampere Peace Research Institute TAPRI. Juulia is now working with her doctoral research project dealing with peace narratives of people living in war affected circumstances. The research also explores the potential of photography in peace research, using photography as a primary language with participants. Visual narratives convey another story of war and peace, stories where hope, recovery and capability are present. Outside the academia, Juulia works at art department in film productions, do illustrations and photography, and voluntary work in Youth Walk in -therapy consultation.