Our collection reflects the instinct to live in harmony

I am regularly asked the question: “What will you say about Gaza?” And it is a question that reveals much about the expectation placed on the Peace Museum.

The horrifying situation in Gaza is a conflict that appals us all. The inhumanity laid bare in Gaza is unfortunately the tip of the iceberg: more than 110 brutal conflicts are taking place across the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America – the highest number since world war two.

Armed conflict aside, there are countries where extreme violence is the norm, places with deeply ingrained gang warfare, corruption and human rights violations perpetrated towards their citizens.

Violence takes other forms too: bigotry, racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, poverty, religious persecution and ableism, for example. And what about how we treat the planet and nature? Humans seem to have an uncanny knack for conflict and, seemingly, a taste for perpetrating violence as a means to its resolution.

But there are ways to resolve conflict without violence, and our collective cultures and histories are peppered with incredible moments in time, with brave people who tried to create peace through non-violent means. Today, all over the world, people are working hard to resolve conflict and to create equity and equality. It is these stories the Peace Museum collects.

We are part of the International Network of Peace Museums, but unique in that we are the only one that holds a significant collection. Our incredible collection contains more than 16,000 items including the Treaty of Versailles; vitrified ceramic roof tiles from the atomic blasts at Nagasaki and Hiroshima; and thousands of posters, banners, badges, artworks, textiles and sculptures.

Our objects contain the power and hopes of ordinary people who bravely made their voices heard through subversion and activism; objects that shout into the storm of the establishment; objects that capture a moment in time; and objects that quietly resonate with untold sacrifice and horror. 

The diverse nature of our collection contextualises and reflects the many facets of the word “peace”, and how its meaning is different for us all. But crucially, our collection represents a common instinct and longing to live in peace with one another.

This is why meaningful co-production will be at the heart of what we do and why it will help us define our next chapter. As we diversify our collection, we will reflect the voices of those who are working for peace across borders in all aspects of society.

An explorative thread of the ideas of peace-making will run through our learning programme, which will find new ways to platform voices through creative practice and interventions. We will use our collections to inspire a new generation and remind it that it does have power in this world; we will place the lessons of the past in the hands of the future. 

The reopening of the Peace Museum in August was the first page of a new chapter, and we have devised the permanent display with scalability in mind. Each key message of the narrative is a jumping-off point to much deeper and bolder explorations that we will explore through our programme. 

We will face challenges, not least those presented by polarised world views and the expectations placed on us. We are here to reflect the zeitgeist, to remember and record – and this sits within a context. We’re not a museum of conflict, but we are a museum of humanity, and we will reflect those voices of protest and activism. We will platform the quiet voices of peaceful resistance, and of those who refuse to be complicit.

While conflicts rage around the world, we invite you to join us to remember and reflect, and to be part of a different future.

Joe Brook is the director of the Peace Museum, Saltaire, West Yorkshire 

There will be a tour of the Peace Museum as part of the Museums Association Conference in Leeds (12-14 November)