Camilio

I want all wars to end!

Today I stood inside the Gropius Bau in Berlin, taking part in the Music of the Mind exhibition — a tribute to Yoko Ono.

I wasn’t just a visitor, but part of a performance.

On my trousers, I wore embroidered text:

“I want all wars to end!”

And I meant every word.

I was also wearing the jacket from a previous performance. The suit is slowly evolving into a kind of walking billboard — it might look like branded clothing, but it’s shaped by the exhibitions I take part in, and by the environments I become part of.

This performance happened in front of Yoko Ono’s latest work: Peace is Power.

It’s a strong phrase — but one that I’m not sure I fully agree with. Peace is meaningful, of course. But in the world we live in, peace doesn’t hold much actual power. If it did, wars wouldn’t persist the way they do.

Since I was born in 1973, there has never been a time without war. That’s not just a statistic — it’s a fact that follows you around if you pay attention.

Power still belongs to money, to systems built on consumption, inequality, distraction. Mostly executed by man, rich man, or backed up by rich man, and we vote for them.

I thought about Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s campaign: War is Over (If You Want It). And about the anonymous piece in 'the NO exhibition', running now at the Kreuzberg art space, curated by Medusa — a simple sentence: “I want the war to end,” referring to the ongoing war Ukraine (by agressor Russia / Putin).

I shifted it slightly:

“I want all wars to end.”

Because there’s more than one war. I understand the artist his concern for Ukraine and or Russia, but there is more going on.

Right now, wars are ongoing in Ukraine, Gaza, Armenia, West Papua, Congo, Sudan, Syria... Some are in the headlines. Others are ignored. Especially the war in West Papua is already ignored for many many years.

There are places where peace exists. That matters. But peace somewhere doesn’t mean peace everywhere. And when we can put man on the moon, we can also erse wars, povirty and more unwanted outcomes of capitalism.

I’ve always believed in the value of dreaming. And I still do.

But dreams alone don’t change much.

I don’t believe peace comes from individual willpower. Not really. That’s what I find hard to accept in slogans like War is Over, If You Want It. It leans too heavily on the individual.

What I believe in more is collective strength — people coming together, not just feeling something, but doing something, together (voting for instance, we do together).

Even if that “doing” is as small as a stitched sentence on a piece of clothing.

Even if it just means showing up.

Peace isn’t something we can take for granted.

It isn’t passive.

And it isn’t automatic.

“I want all wars to end.”

Not as a slogan.

As a clear thought.

As a direction.

Wir schaffen das.