Why Ljubljana?
Program
Speakers
Artists
More Info

The Mirror of Peace The Mirror of Peace

RENÉE VAN BAVEL

Park Sveta Evrope

17.06 – 20.06.2025 in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Presented at the Global Hearth Summit by Draiflessen Collection, Mettingen

Berlin-based Dutch artist Renee van Bavel explores themes of peace, humanity, freedom, and democracy, encouraging viewers to engage with these ideas on a deeply personal level. Her immersive artwork, The Mirror of Peace, exemplifies this approach. As part of the Global Hearth Summit’s featured exhibitions, this piece offers viewers a life-sized reflection of themselves alongside the statement: “This is what people living in peace look like.” The work serves as a powerful reminder not to take peace for granted, urging us to make conscious efforts—every day—to uphold and cherish it.

“Through my work for various memorial sites and foundations in Germany and the Netherlands, I have met many people for whom the words war and peace have a vivid meaning. These encounters have made me very aware that I live in peace and that this should not be taken for granted. This process has ignited a fire in me to share this “peace consciousness” with the public. Not by explaining it, but by creating a form that enables people to experience it for themselves. That is THE MIRROR OF PEACE.”

– Renee van Bavel

Renee van Bavel and the Draiflessen Collection are delighted to present this engaging and thought-provoking work as part of the Global Hearth Summit’s International Arts Program.

Photograph by Marta Busso
Why Ljubljana?
Program
Speakers
Artists
More Info

Connect with Renee on social media: 

Renee van Bavel

Artist

In her work, the Berlin-based Dutch artist Renee van Bavel deals with the themes of peace, freedom, and human connection. By using various art forms, she initiates ways to approach and experience these topics at a personal level, as is emphatically shown in her space-encompassing work of art THE MIRROR OF PEACE. Viewers see themselves reflected in full size and read a text saying: “This is what people living in peace look like.” It becomes instantly clear that a life lived in peace cannot be taken for granted, and that we must act consciously—every day—to preserve this peace. From 2022 to 2024, she worked as Artist in Residence at the Memorial Sites Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück, where she developed new forms of remembrance through the medium of art. With her artistic practice, Renee van Bavel knows how to appeal to people’s feelings, to bring them back to emotionally reflecting on war and peace, and to focus on what unites us.