In the Absence of Bombs
Art, War, and Silence
- Forthcoming: expected 2026. You can pre-order this book in our webshop. As soon as the book is available, we will dispatch your order.
- Urgent and topical, in a time in which military mobilization is encouraged
- A versatile, in-depth anthology about the influence art and media have on war (and the other way around)
Editors: Pascal Gielen, Bahia Shehab
Contributors: Amir Ashkar, Jan Beddegenoodts, Yousra Benfquih, Marlies De Munck, Naama Shoshana Fogiel Lewin, Lara García Diaz, Pascal Gielen, Mohamed Hijji, Erwin Jans, Mazen Kerbaj, Lara Khaldi, Maha Maamoun, Sohail Salem, Roschanack Shaery-Yazdi, Bahia Shehab, Walid Taher, Jana Traboulsi, Emily Van Driessen, Annelys de Vet
Design: Metahaven
Series: Antennae-Arts in Society Series
Forthcoming: expected 2026, Valiz supported by Vfonds and Mondriaan Fund | pb | c. 320 pp. | 21 x 13,5 cm (h x w) | English | ISBN 978-94-93246-59-1
What happens when violence unfolds before our eyes, yet responses hesitate and waver? When institutions—political, academic, cultural—retreat into silence, and even committed artists falter in the face of war?
In the Absence of Bombs investigates this silence. In a time when horror is livestreamed and apathy is institutionalized, this book asks how such paralysis is possible—and how art can contribute to recognition of the unfolding crimes against humanity? How do poets, visual artists, theatre and filmmakers unsettle the spectacle of shock? How can grief become a collective and political force, rather than a privatized void?
Through testimonies from war zones—from Gaza to Kharkiv, Beirut to Brussels—this book composes a polyphonic response to a world that demands clarity but offers none. It does not moralize. It insists. On mourning. On commitment.