This installation ( shown at the Ministry of Casual Living September 11- 27, 2025 ) commemorates the often-overlooked story of civilians subjected to aerial bombing. It arises from a shared awareness of the suffering of civilians in Gaza, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen, and from the memory of the bombings of Dresden, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki on their 80th anniversary.
War’s impact on children and their caregivers transcends myths of “good guys and bad guys,” or of enemies and evil. It is a painful story, yet told here with tenderness through works on paper in an intimate, grotto-like setting. Such spaces have long been associated with veneration of the Madonna and Child, evoking the sacredness of life so often denied in war.
Roses are historically gendered symbols of beauty, love, and fragility, traditionally surrounding the Sacred Heart of Mother Mary. In this work, the roses also resemble plumes of bombs seen from above, confronting the contradiction inherent in a ‘God with Us’ wartime narrative.
As long as society marginalizes the caregiver and the childlike within us – the vulnerable, the empathetic, the creative, the nurturing – we cannot hope to end war. This installation honours those qualities. It is a way of remembering the Second World War that goes beyond making heroes of ancestors or finding victory in destruction. Instead, it holds space for compassion, for care, and for the reverence of life.
White plaster angels are from my personal collection and are by Alison Bigg, used with permission.
Cornelia van Voorst 