ACT Bartos Theater
MIT Building E15-070
20 Ames Street
Cambridge, MA

As part of ACT Spring 2023 events, Maria Niro’s award-winning documentary The Art of Un-War will be screened in Bartos Theater, followed by Q&A with director Maria Niro and artist Krzysztof Wodiczko.

The Art of Un-War is an award-winning documentary directed by Maria Niro. The film follows internationally acclaimed artist Krzysztof Wodiczko who has devoted his career to work that gives prominence to the inhumanity of war imploring us to dismantle and change our perceptions of human conflict so we can drive toward peace—a concept he calls “Un-War.” Wodiczko’s work, known for his large-scale slide and video projections on architectural facades and monuments throughout the world, deals with trauma and healing while honoring people’s stories of pain, loss, and perseverance. We witness Wodiczko’s social practice that combines art and technology as critical design practices to highlight marginal social communities and address cultural issues that are often overlooked. Delving into Wodiczko’s extensive array of stirring installations as well as his own past traumas—which include his having been born in 1943 Warsaw, two days before the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as growing up in a Communist Poland still feeling the tragic aftereffects of World War II—the film also features interviews with fellow artists activists in its pursuit of the heart and soul of a major artist whose work will, unfortunately, never be irrelevant.