The new multimedia exhibit Conflict Zone featured in this week’s Reader’s culture section is a testament to the gritty and somber reality of war, but also to the fact that people have to live and work in places where few would choose to visit.
The exhibit is an all-volunteer effort, with Jackie Spinner, a former Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post, leading the effort from Oman, where she’s completing a Fulbright Scholarship at Sultan Qaboos University. This summer she’s coming to Chicago to take over Columbia College’s multimedia journalism program.
The exhibit’s currently seeking gallery space in eight other cities: San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Austin, Miami, Boca Raton, and Tampa-Saint Petersburg.
“There’s a lot of life that happens in a conflict zone,” Spinner said. “What I would like people to come away with, I want them to see what I’ve seen. I want them to see the whole battlefield. It’s not just soldiers fighting.”