Metamorphosis and Myth
European Battlefields of the 20th Century

The aim of this artistic project was to portray all significant
European locations where decisive battles had taken place
during the twentieth century. The most dramatic fields of death,
such as Gallipoli (Turkey), Verdun (France), Guernica (Basque
Country, Spain), Stalingrad (now Volgograd, Russia) and Sarajevo
(Bosnia-Herzegovina), now seem peaceful and harmonious places.
In contrast to the harrowing and alienating content of traditional
war photography, Peter Hebeisen's images allow the viewer's gaze
to rest in well-defined landscapes. From the first Balkan War
(1912-1913) to the last conflicts in former Yugoslavia (1990's) the
project assembles present-day views of former theaters of war and
introduces a new angle to the idea of "Vergangenheitsbewältigung",
the struggle to come to terms with the past. The haunting landscapes
reveal how healing is linked with forgetting and ignorance.
As those directly involved in conflicts and affected by them pass away,
also memory will pass. A mirror is held up to the viewer that reflects
the presence or absence respectively of a knowledge about the history
of conflict. CGM