THE CARBONE STUDIO

TELEPORT TO THE EXHIBITION

Ara Pacis is part of a collective exhibition at SLEA, bringing together 35 artists from August to December 2024 around the theme of Peace.

The art installation consists of three zones, two of which are a freely interpreted and simplified reconstruction of Augustus’s altar.

THE EXTERIOR WALLS

The exterior walls, defining the installation’s world, feature four Assyrian-inspired bas-reliefs depicting recent wars – New York City, Iraq, Ukraine, Gaza.

These forms highlight the origins of early civilizations’ warfare. Sumerian, Akkadian, and Assyrian facades primarily depicted scenes of military triumph.

Two other black walls at the altar’s entrance depict an angel holding an olive branch, symbolizing love and peace in Western monotheistic religions. Exiting the altar, a short video describes the physical and psychological impact of World War I on soldiers.

From the altar’s entrance perspective, the video is subtly visible.

THE EXTERIOR FACADES OF THE ENCLOSURE WALLS

The Ara Pacis enclosure’s outer facades showcased peaceful political and historical scenes from the Roman Empire, extolling the Pax Romana, a kind of universal peace that lasted over 200 years.

The point of view of the art installation is different. The exterior facades of the enclosure walls of the altar portray two victories of peace over war: victory over weapons and victory over hubris.

The two entrances are surrounded by depictions of goddesses welcoming the visitors. They are accompanied by animals : owl, dove, serpent, deer, echoing the original altar’s decorative spirit.

THE INNER SPACE

Inside the enclosure walls, where the Ara Pacis altar has been replaced by an open space, there is a luminous vegetal floor and six paintings depicting human activities that generate peace, following a Maslowian hierarchy : Sustenance, shelter and sleep ; Love and care for others ; Creation and contemplation.

ARA PACIS: ALTAR OF PEACE

The Ara Pacis is an altar dedicated to the goddess Pax, constructed in Rome during the reign of Emperor Augustus, approximately a decade before the birth of Christ.

It symbolizes a return to peace, as it is here that soldiers and their commanders, returning from military campaigns, performed rites marking the end of their wartime activities.

This altar embodies the essence of peace: the longing for peace exists only because humanity ignited the fire of war, which has never ceased burning on our planet for ten thousand years.

PEACE: AN INTERLUDE BETWEEN TWO WARS

Archaeologists, anthropologists, and paleontologists agree that mass killings emerged with the existence of food surpluses, particularly with the advent of agriculture and settlement.

These killings evolved into a noble pursuit in Mesopotamian civilizations, where kings of great cities, guided by their city god, conquered neighboring cities by massacring their populations.

The fascination with war has never waned. For civilized human society, peace is merely a fleeting interlude between wars that is not destined to endure.

PEACE AS AN UNIVERSAL IDEA

The concept of global peace emerged in 1945, but economic, military, and cultural empires such as Europe, the United States, Russia, and more recently China have increasingly utilized war in sophisticated ways to maintain their power.

Weapons and the hubris of power fuel this state and imperial violence, smoldering like embers that periodically burst into flame.

While the early 21st century has seen relative peace compared to past eras, current threats loom large.

WAR OR PEACE : TWO RESPONSES TO CLIMATE CHAOS

Humanity spends over $2.5 trillion annually on armaments, nearly 3% of the global GDP. The USA alone allocates over $900 billion, followed by China with $300 billion.

This is exactly what should be spent combating climate change, which threatens humanity’s survival.

It’s as if we, as humans, have already chosen our path: to kill each other through war rather than cooperate to prevent climate chaos from doing it for us.