The Peace Factory

An Interactive Exhibition on Peace Education

REVIEWER: CAECILIA J VAN PESKI

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History - and present time - shows us that death factories exist. They consist of prejudice, power, hatred, terror, manipulation and intolerance. But peace factories now exist too! The Peace Factory is a travelling exhibition that is at present time on tour through the Netherlands. Other nations have shown interest in the project too.

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When one enters the Peace Factory first thing that draws attention are the sound effects. From every corner the sounds of a working factory are projected and do bring the visitor into the factory atmosphere. Visitors also wear helmets which give the picture of construction workers walking around a building site. And there is actual building taking place. Peace building!

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In total fifteen machines can be found in the Peace Factory. The machines are constructed from synthetic fibre in a multitude of appealing colours. Visitors use different tools to discover that tolerance is a valuable asset, but also has its limitations. Freedom itself can not be unrestricted either. The freedom of one individual can result in restrictions for others. Conflicts can be resolved in more than one way. Visitors are challenged in an active attitude towards their own opinions, choices and values. They are invited to work with machines like the time machine, lie detector, regret tube, fact and opinion sorter, scapegoat mill, prejudice balance, tolerance measurer and violence roll. ‘Colored people are lazy’ can be a personal opinion but is never a fact. Making agreements can help you to find peace with your enemy. Joining resistance is heroic but also dangerous. Would you? What you see as innocent teasing of a boy in your classroom can be mere harassment in the eyes of the victim. Where do you draw the line?

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The Peace Factory illustrates how war and peace, past, present and future are interconnected. It combines realism and history with idealism and future. But while showing how these things are present in our world, the exhibition bit by bit shifts the focus to the personal believes of the visitor. What are your own norms and values? How would you act in a certain situation? Would you fight for your own believes? Do you dare to stand up to what you believe in? By touching the visitors own identity, people are forced to think about the consequences of their own day-to-day choices in moral dilemma’s. Where do I stand?

Some Quotations from: Interspectives, Journal on Transcultural Education'. CISV International Limited, in cooperation with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.