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What role can the visual arts play in a society's understanding of its history? Why is it important to document history?
For a society that has been ravaged by genocide or mass violence, documenting that history, through oral and written testimony, primary source documents, and artifacts, is crucial. The use of art—photography, painting, music, theater, etc.—provides another way of capturing memory and is also a vital part of the process of repair and rebuilding. In this reading, we will view the photographs of Michal Safdie, which offer a unique and profound perspective on the complexity of post-genocide Rwanda. |
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Michal Safdie’s photographs powerfully express the realities of life in Rwanda following the genocide and the struggle for reconciliation and justice. Painful to witness, the photographs provide a glimpse into a nation’s grief while suggesting its capacity to heal.
In 2003, Safdie travelled to Rwanda and took photographs at some of the pre-gacaca trials. Her photographs capture “the sadness, the anger, and the intensity of silence. Some of the images evoke directly the genocide while most are about the process of reconciliation, how one might try and come to terms with the unbearable memory.”1
Click here to see an image gallery of Michal Safdie's photos of Rwanda. *Please note that some of the photographs in this gallery are graphic, showing the bones and skulls of those killed in the genocide.
Click here to see an image gallery of Michal Safdie's photos of pre-gacaca trials in 2003.
1 Michal Safdie. Photo Gallery website. Source.
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