1999

Ileana Tounta

In this group of works, photographs of WWII sea battles have been processed, with all the images of battleships digitally erased and replaced with almond blossoms. The momentary and devastating bang of the original explosions has been turned into a blooming explosion of flowers – slow, tranquil and fragile but still transformative, a true celebration of life. It is customary to offer flowers to honor the lost and to welcome the new. The paradox of these images illustrates both the inevitable battlegrounds our inner conflicts and the natural process of healing that, if we allow it, always comes after any disaster or trauma we have managed to survive from, be it personal or collective. Transformed through time and memory, the scars of any sort of war may heal and bloom, so as to finally become an actual source of new life and lasting peace.