Stop using arms against civilians!
Artist statement
Cause and Effect
The use of arms against civilians is the cause
of misery, displacement and illegal immigration.
To end human suffering, and to end illegal immigration, stop using arms and heavy weapons against civilians!!
Total deaths in armed conflicts were more than 3.3 million between 1989 and 2022.[1] This has led to misery, malnutrition, hunger, disease and displacement of millions of those who survived.
At the end of 2023, an estimated 117.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing the public order.[2] [3]
Estimated global military expenditure in 2023 estimated at more than $2.4 trillion.[4]
The arms revenue of the 100 largest arms-producing and military services companies estimated at $597 billion in 2022.[5]
Value of global arms trade in 2022 estimated at $138 billion.[6]
Who manufactures the arms, who buys them and who uses them, and what is the effect on civilian life?? Questions that need to be asked, questions whose answers should prompt rethinking and reshaping the present trends of where the world is heading.
“In 2020, between 720 and 811 million people faced hunger”.[7] The billions spent on tools of destruction could well be invested in maintaining wellbeing, peace and raising the human condition to a real civilisation and human development all over the world.
Violence only brings violence, a cycle that will never end, unless major reforms are done. Leading developed and industrial countries need to reconsider the strategies in influencing and controlling developing countries and their resources.
It is vital to implement International Arms Control Treaties and to reconsider and reshape the global arms trade towards a more humanistic approach.
The “Cause and Effect” project, aims to highlight these conditions, in the hope that Arms usage will be restricted and that its financing would be channelled into humanistic investments.
The project, placed on an area of 1.8m x 1m consists of multiple media:
- A painting in acrylic: “On the Boat- Death was weaving fishing nets” 2022, reflects the condition of immigrants fleeing war and hunger. The painting is the backdrop of the project.
- A bomb which symbolises the arms and weapons trade. It was constructed from wire covered with plaster and acrylic paint. It is covered with a Dress Net, which symbolises dressing something ugly with something beautiful. The bomb bleeds…
- Three/Four hands of adults and children. They are made of plaster bathed in clay. They represent the thousands of civilians trapped under the rubble of their homes after being hit by air bombs or murdered by armed forces.
- A safety jacket. It represents the thousands of illegal immigrants attempting to find a safe place by fleeing on a small rubber boat; many of which died at sea.
- A booklet, collection of poetry, called: “On the Boat”[8]. It tells the stories of the refugees in poetry, in their own voices.
- A fishing net, it links the elements of the project; it has two meanings: The first as used by Death to capture lives: “Death was weaving fishing nets” (On the Boat, p.8.) The second, as a means of escape, hanging on to a rope on the rubber boat.
- An audiovisual recording of the poems, displayed on a personal computer.
- A file folder with statistics on the arms trade and casualties due to armed conflicts by region and country.
About the artist:
Randa Saab is a British Lebanese artist living in Rochester, Kent.
She holds an MBA degree and has held managerial posts at international organizations in the aviation, hospitality, journalism, and publishing industries.
She later studied for a BA in Fine Arts. Her practice includes painting in different mediums and genres, sculpture, textile, printing and installation. She paints landscapes, figurative art, portraits, still life, and experiments with abstract painting. She handles topics that raise the awareness of human suffering, in an attempt to alleviate it.
Randa participated in many exhibitions in Lebanon and the UK, and is a Creative Associate with Nucleus Arts, Chatham, Kent.
Randasaabart.com, randasaabart@outlook.com , @randasaabart
[2] https://www.unhcr.org/uk/global-trends#:~:text=At%20the%20end%20of%202023,seriously%20disturbing%20the%20public%20order.
[3] A series of year-on-year increases over the last 12 years
[4] SIPRI yearbook 2024, Summary, p.8
[5] Ibid, p.9
[6] Ibid, p.11
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