Issues that arise with such exhibitions include; the impact on victims, the original photographer(s), the environment of such exhibitions, along with visual and accompanying content. Would it also be called 'art' or 'education', if the subject in question was America's 9/11 or Britain's 7/7, or if the victims were white and Western?
Because the Berlin Biennale is German, it's worth remembering how leading NAZI's said at the Nuremberg Trials — “I was only following orders”. And when pictures emerged of US soldiers abusing Iraqi detainees, lawyers representing some of those US soldiers said their clients were innocent for the same reason.
At the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann, he asserted that he had not dictated policy, but only carried it out—that he was “merely a little cog in the machinery” of the NAZI's Final Solution. He admitted that while he was guilty of arranging the transport of millions of Jews to their deaths, he did not feel guilty for the consequences.
A 2004 visit to Abu Ghraib had been intended to show improvements in the prison but journalists "had been forbidden to interview or photograph detainees," explained Stephen Farrell of The Times. "The guards were powerless to prevent them shouting to us through the wire. 'Take us home!' one screamed. 'Is this the freedom and democracy they promised?' shouted another."
Hussein Al-alak is the editor of Iraq Solidarity News (Al-Thawra). You can follow @husseinalalak on Twitter.
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