IMMA presents landmark exhibition Technologies of Peace: Art and Transition in Contemporary Europe (1989 – 2026)

The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA) is proud to present Technologies of Peace: Art and Transition in Contemporary Europe (1989–2026), a speculative exhibition bringing together researchers, artists, thinkers, and curators from across Europe to critically examine one of the defining challenges of our time: the question of peace.

At a moment marked by ongoing wars, geopolitical instability, social fragmentation, and the constant circulation of conflict through media and culture, conflict is frequently aestheticised, analysed, and consumed. Peace, by contrast, is rarely afforded the same sustained attention. Yet it is precisely now amid escalating global tensions and deepening uncertainty that the complexity, fragility, and transformative potential of peace is asserted.

Drawing on artistic, political, and social perspectives across Europe, including Greece, Poland, Romania, Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK, Kosovo, and Croatia, the exhibition features work by artists including Marina Abramović, Petrit Halilaj, Goshka Macuga, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Claudia Pagès Rabal, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Indrė Šerpytytė, and Slavs and Tatars. It considers peace not as a fixed condition or end point, but as an active process of negotiation, maintenance, and collective imagination. Within the context of the island of Ireland’s recent history, the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 offers a powerful example of a landmark manifestation of peace. It is an ongoing process; one that continues to require care, compromise, and vigilance.

The exhibition uses five chapters to examine the outcomes and approaches: Technologies of Peace, Language & Translation, Trauma & Reverberation, Ecology & Architecture, and Imagining Futures. It Illustrates how cultural expression can act as a powerful tool for civic repair; and presents a hopeful and constructive counter-narrative, reaffirming Europe’s potential for critical reflection, solidarity, and transformation through the arts.

Participating artists include: Marina Abramović, Ileana Arnaoutou, Nika Autor, Aleksandar Battista Ilić in collaboration with Ivana Keser and Tomislav Gotovac, Alán Carrasco, Jasmina Cibic, Lana Čmajčanin, Fábio Colaço, Phil Collins, Rita Duffy, Petros Efstathiadis, Andrea Geyer, Igor Grubić, Petrit Halilaj, Anthony Haughey, Saskia Holmkvist, Sanja Iveković, Dragana Jurišić, Šejla Kamerić, Barbara Knežević, Siniša Labrović, Nicolas Lambouris, Latent Community, Manolis D. Lemos, Goshka Macuga, Emily McFarland, Małgorzata Mirga-Tas, Petros Moris, Locky Morris, Vlad Nancă, Eleni Odysseos, Claudia Pagès Rabal, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Karol Radziszewski, María Ruido, Edita Schubert, Driton Selmani, Indrė Šerpytytė, Slavs and Tatars, Mladen Stilinović, Kostis Velonis, and Vangelis Vlahos.

The IMMA permanent Collection forms a central part of the exhibition, with key works by Willie Doherty, Frances Hegarty, Sandra Johnston, Alastair MacLennan, Mairéad McClean, William McKeown, Paul Seawright, Anne Tallentire and Cathy Wilkes. Also included are works by Ursula Burke, Amanda Dunsmore, and Glenn Loughran participants in the Dwell Here Residency Programme at IMMA.

Living Canvas at IMMA, Europe’s largest digital outdoor art screen presented at IMMA by IPUT Real Estate, will feature film works by artists Marina Abramović, Nika Autor, Jasmina Cibic, Mairéad McClean, and Petros Moris.

The exhibition forms part of a major five-year research initiative led by IMMA exploring Technologies of Peace through exhibitions, artist residencies, symposia, co-commissions, research, and publications between 2025 and 2030. The programme examines the central role artistic practice and cultural experience play in healing societies, fostering reconciliation, and building a shared sense of identity and community.

Annie Fletcher, Director of IMMA, said: “At a moment when Europe is confronting profound political, social and cultural challenges, Technologies of Peace invites us to consider peace not as a fixed achievement, but as a continuous practice that must be nurtured, negotiated and renewed. Bringing together artists from across Europe whose work emerges from histories of conflict, transition and democratic spaces for reflection, dialogue and understanding. 

As Ireland holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2026, Technologies of Peace offers a timely opportunity to situate Ireland’s own experience of political transition, reconciliation, and peacebuilding within a wider European context. It highlights the shared histories and interconnected futures that bind European societies together, while recognising the different paths through which communities have navigated division, memory and change.”

The exhibition will be accompanied by a new publication, launching to coincide with an international Technologies of Peace symposium taking place 3 – 4 December 2026. An expanded research exhibition will follow in 2028 examining peace in the global context.

1 July 2026

ENDS

For media inquiries, please contact:
Monica Cullinane E: [email protected] T: 086 2010023
Patrice Molloy E: [email protected] T: 086 2009957

Additional Notes for Editors 

Exhibition details:
Technologies of Peace: Art and Transition in Contemporary Europe (1989 – 2026)
12 September 2026 – 9 May 2027
Admission free. Webpage: Technologies of Peace: Art and Transition in Contemporary Europe (1989 – 2026)

Opening Hours :
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 10am – 5.30pm
Wednesday: 11.30am – 5.30pm
Sunday: 12noon – 5.30pm
Bank Holiday Mondays: 12noon – 5.30pm