Violence seems to surround us. It is a part of our experience that has become expected, an aspect of our being that we can no longer live without, if we ever lived without it in the first place. However, the new exhibit in the Sainsbury Centre asks its viewers if this is necessary, if this expectation and proximity to violence is normal, and, indeed, if art can help answer the question: Can We Stop Killing Each Other?

As you enter the art centre, you are met with Anton Forde’s Papare Eighty.one. These 81, 8.2 ft tall wooden figures, or pou, were hand-carved by the Aotearoa/New Zealand artist. Each one is dressed in taonga pounamu (jade necklaces), which represent the teardrops of Rangunui (sky father) for Papatuānuku (earth mother). Shiree Reihana, a kaiwhatu (a traditional Māori weaver), hand-wove Kākahu (cloaks) for six of the pou, to elevate the mana, the honour, of the individual post and therefore the full V-shaped display.

The defensive formation of the pou was inspired by migrating birds and highlights togetherness and solidarity. This idea of unity is also a reference to the peaceful actions of the pacifist Māori community in the face of a British colonial invasion in New Zealand in 1881. By connecting his artwork to this, Forde is calling for Kotahitanga, a call for unity in the face of violent division. However, Forde is not only referring to conflict between humans, but to the non-human, the natural world. Empathy is extended beyond the traditional Western view of kinship, and therefore, this piece is not only asking the onlooker to cherish our relationship with each other, but to nurture the relationship between us and any living thing.

As visitors descend the spiral staircase, they are met by darkness. A dark room that introduces the origins of suffering. The writing on the wall reminds visitors of the Ten Commandments – ‘Thou Shall Not Kill’. Next to it, the Denunciation of Cain (1871-2) by George Frederic Watts. Fascinated by the jealousy and anger that prompt Cain to murder his brother Abel, Watts depicts the consequences of one of the first acts of violence in Christianity. Cain is isolated in the shadows cast by the angels above him, and the contrasting colours not only show his condemnation, but the guilt that surrounds the biblical figure for killing his closest kin.

Though the origin story might not be viewed in the same light in modern, multicultural Britain as it was in the Victorian era, the art itself is still able to provoke questions over the current state of the world and the conflict that lies within it.

The exhibit continues by asking how normalised violence has become in our culture. Conflict is captured on the news cycle, yet it is also depicted for our entertainment. From Punch and Judy at the seaside, to Japanese theatre depicting real acts of crime. From Shakespeare’s tragedies to modern films. Eyewitness explores how conflict is represented and how witnessing it daily affects us.

Most strikingly, a dark room invites observers to stand in the middle. Each of the four walls showcases scenes from films, and each scene depicts a gun shooting towards the camera, shooting towards you. As you stand in the middle of the room, the sound of the shots and the flashing scenes becomes disorientating, forcing the spectacle of violence that we consume daily to become a threat. The extreme nature of these films is forced upon us in a unique way that does not ask us to accept the constant stream of violence that we consume, but to examine our unhealthy obsession with homicide.

And yet, Tesfaye Urgessa’s Roots of Resilience shows that despite the constant conflict that we are subjected to, we as humans are far more capable of enduring suffering with dignity than we can imagine. Inspired by Pablo Picasso’s Woman combing her Hair (1906) and wooden figures from Côte d’Ivoire made in the 20th Century, Urgessa’s collection shows the realities of displacement, the trauma of it and yet the resilience of humanity in our ability to overcome challenges.

Despite the vivid use of colour, there is a softness to the palette and the strokes. The ability for these things to live in tandem leads itself to the artists’ intention of representing “the joy and the sorrow, good times and bad”, simultaneously. Although his art depicts the consequences of war and migration, Urgessa celebrates the scars, our ability to heal and the potential for transformation.

The softness of this collection is showcased alongside Claude Monet’s The Petit Bras of the Seine at Argenteuil (1872). A sense of home and stability is to be found within the piece, and the fragrance inspired by the painting reinforces the reflection that Monet’s work invokes. This final work allows the visitor to reflect on the exhibit as a whole and how, once explained and understood, art is able to provoke deep resonance within us.

Once again, the question is asked: ‘Can We Stop Killing Each Other?’ But what does that really mean in our current day and age? What does it mean that we ask this of ourselves? The Sainsbury Centre attempts to answer this bold question, exploring the darkest elements of our being with morality and empathy. It is up to you to see if the Sainsbury Centre has succeeded in answering the question.

Image Credit: Sainsbury Centre, Luca Giordano, The Brazen Serpent, c1690, oil on canvas (CVCSC:0380.2.S)

© Compton Verney, photography by Jamie Woodley