Exhibiting courage: valour or vulnerability?

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Recent events, such as the Iranian women’s fight against theocratic oppression and struggle of the Ukrainian people against Russian invaders, have forced us to confront the meaning of courage. Inspired by the Bertolt Brecht play, the current exhibition at Accelerator, Mother Courage and Her Children, explores questions of courage and acts of resistance. When we encounter new situations, how can we summon the courage and curiosity to address dilemmas that are difficult to navigate or address situations we often do not fully understand or even perceive as incomprehensible?

Artists have long reflected on how war creates and brings out the dark side in people and the subversive power of the irrational. Today, artists – and wider society – often choose to emphasise vulnerability rather than praise valour. For example, works often depict how soldiers are physically or mentally damaged by their experience of war rather than reflecting their acts of heroism. In that context, works featuring the courage of Ukrainian citizens to defend their national freedom stand out. And what of the need for courage beyond the theatre of war? In a world where passivity often wins out over agency, how can we display the courage and desire to move beyond cultural norms, codes and categories?

What insights can we gain from art today on the question of courage and what are the opportunities and challenges for artists themselves? In this era of safety first, risk aversion, and even nihilistic fatalism, do we need to draw on the longstanding virtue of courage in order to dare to live freely? How can we reinvigorate courage for a new era?

This debate is part of Battle of Ideas Stockholm 2022.