Posters4Peace: Show your Peace!

Posters4Peace is a creative project dedicated to collecting and showcasing posters that promote positive peace. In a world where conflict often dominates headlines and public attention, peace can feel like a passive concept - something we only think about in its absence. But what if we could shift our perspective? What if we were as curious, passionate, and engaged about understanding and promoting peace as we are about studying wars?

This open call for submissions is a reminder of a recurring paradox: when asked to create or speak about peace, many still default to the language and imagery of war. Peace is so often framed in opposition to conflict, as though it cannot exist on its own. But peace deserves its own space, its own celebration—free from the shadow of war.

So, what exactly is positive peace?

Unlike negative peace, which is simply the absence of violence or war, positive peace refers to the presence of conditions that foster justice, equality, and sustainable harmony in society. It includes things like access to education, fair governance, human rights, social equity, and environmental health. The term was popularized by peace researcher Johan Galtung, who emphasized that true peace involves more than stopping bullets - it requires building societies where people can thrive together.

Resources like the Global Peace Index (produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace) offer frameworks for understanding and measuring positive peace. They highlight key pillars such as well-functioning government, equitable distribution of resources, free flow of information, and low levels of corruption - all essential to building peaceful societies.

In 2024, in the Peace Museum Vienna, we launched the first Posters4Peace exhibition. Throughout the process of collecting posters from around the world, we discovered something powerful: peace is not just defined by policy or theory. It is shaped by personal experience, culture, daily life, and human connection.

One of the most touching definitions came from Indonesian professor and graphic designer Naufan Noordyanto, whose poster simply said: “I want Peace and enjoy this life.” That message stayed with us - because it speaks to something fundamental. Peace isn’t always abstract or grand; sometimes it’s the ability to enjoy a meal, to feel safe in your home, to be surrounded by community, love, and understanding. Food brings peace. So does family. So does the feeling of belonging.

When we only talk about peace in the context of war, we risk reducing it to a reactive state. But peace is not a pause - it is a practice. It’s something we can create, nurture, and share, without fear.

Let’s change the narrative.

Through Posters4Peace, we invite artists, designers, and dreamers to visualize peace as a living, vibrant force. Draw it. Paint it. Put it in your window. Let peace be visible, joyful, and loud.

Art has the power to unite us. Peace has the power to transform us. Make peace today.

Anna Rabko