24 Women for Peace

Evelyne Baly, Valentina Bellomo, Emanuela Camacci, Caterina Ciuffetelli, Cinzia Colombo, Ysabel Dehais, Francesca di Ciaula, Ombretta Gamberale, Emanuela Lena, Carolina Lombardi, Cecilia Luci Canestrari, Roberta Maola, Arianna Matta, Consuelo Mura, Mahshid Mussavi, Alessia Nardi, Claudia Quintieri, Paola Romoli Venturi, Virginia Ryan, Carla Sacco, Lucia Sapienza, Shaghayegh Sharafi, Silvia Stucky, Laura VdB Facchini.

In 1966, The Fugs, a New York rock band (whose name derives from a euphemism that Norman Mailer uses in his novel *The Naked and the Dead* for another English word beginning with “f” and ending with “k”), released *Kill for Peace*.

The song begins like this:
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Kill, kill, kill for peace
Near or middle or very Far East
Far or near or very Middle East”

The group openly criticized the justifications the U.S. government provided regarding the start of the Vietnam War, but the lyrics seem as relevant as ever in any historical moment—so much so that in 1986, Andy Warhol created his work *Airborne - We Kill for Peace*, drawing on the Fugs’ lyrics.
Fast forward to today.

On January 22, 2026, Donald Trump announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos the creation of the Board of Peace, an international body tasked with ensuring peace and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip. “Once this board is fully formed, we’ll be able to do practically anything we want, in collaboration with the UN,” considering that the United Nations has “tremendous potential, but it isn’t being utilized.”
What has happened over the last three months speaks for itself.
Humming (by chance) “Kill for Peace” by The Fugs, I write “The Board of Peace” on a piece of paper; with a blue pencil, I cross out “Bo” and replace the “d” with a “t.”
“The Art of Peace” is our response to peace initiatives carried out through war and without the slightest respect for international agreements, foremost among them the United Nations Charter. Words are beautiful, but deeds speak louder, as Goethe said. And I’ll leave it at that. I give the floor (as they would say elsewhere) to the works of the 24 artists on display at Spazio Mimesis.

Make Art for Peace.

by Edoardo Marcenaro

Ambassador of the Third Paradise

Pistoletto Foundation