An exhibit of printed posters featuring images and text from picture books that provide an international perspective on conflict, peace, and humanity, will be on display at Western Washington University Libraries on campus Galleries 2, 3, and 4, in Bellingham through March 22, 2019.
An opening celebration reception with refreshments will be held on Wednesday, January 23 from 4-5 p.m. in the Wilson Library Reading Room. Both the exhibit and the reception are free and open to the public. The exhibit is available for viewing during all hours Western Libraries is open.
Conceived by the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany, the exhibit offers an international selection of unique and striking picture books that explore themes such as: Experiences of War, Destruction, and Displacement; Power Struggles and the Origin and Escalation of Violence; Prejudice, Ostracism, and Imagined Enemies; Utopias of Peace and Anti-War Books. In addition to the powerful exhibit posters, classroom response work and projects will be on display.
Among the books featured are a few classics of children’s literature, but the majority of the titles were published in the last fifteen years. They tell stories about everyday life in conflict zones, about suppression, displacement, and persecution, about borders that turn people away, about threats and injuries. They reveal the sources of war and violence, such as xenophobia, prejudice, and the abuse of power.
At the same time, many of these picture books ultimately open the door to a better future in which dividing walls topple, enemies reconcile, and war gives way to peace. Many of these books communicate the message that openness, curiosity, and empathy are prerequisites for a more peaceful and humane coexistence between cultures and peoples.
This exhibit was made possible by Western Libraries, Woodring College of Education, Western’s Department of English, and The Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity. For more information about the exhibit, please see: http://libguides.wwu.edu/clic/hello-dear-enemy.
If you have questions, or if you would like to arrange a class or large group visit, please contact Desiree Cueto at (360) 650-2339 or Sylvia Tag at (360) 650-7992.
