Expanding Beyond Genocide: Call for Submissions

Background

Beyond Genocide is a pioneering visual art opus that develops thematic currents of narration examining a pan-historic chronology and geography of mass atrocity events. Advancing awareness and scholarship at the intersection of genocide and the arts contributes critically to a deeper understanding of human behavior, promoting empathy and social change, and serves as a powerful tool for preventing future atrocities. Beyond Genocide is singularly structured to shed light on the many facets of inquiry and critical reflection of pivotal mass atrocities around the globe and throughout history where traditional academic studies may not capture.

New Vision

In 2024, Beyond Genocide received generous annual funding to expand and complete the series through a juried “call-for-art“. Individual commissioned pieces will be awarded annually, adding to and conversing with the existing works, with the project set for completion within an 8-year time frame.

Project organizer Amy Fagin is working with an Arts Awards Advisory Council with expertise in genocide studies, art expression, exhibition practices, communications, and outreach and we are in the first stages of drafting the structure of the jury pool, participating institutions, and finalizing the list of case studies representing the artworks to be added to the existing exhibition.

Submission window for the 2025 – 2026 competition will open December 1st, 2025. 

Project Structure & Theme

The competition will integrate new works that respond to and are in concert with an interactive exhibition experience with the original series. The aim is to serve as a focal point for artistic representation in examining each case study listed below, maintaining the highest standards of artistic excellence and public engagement.

Judging

A panel of jurors will award commissions based on artistic merit, adherence to the theme, the relationship to previous works in the series, technical skill and service to the objective of “thinking through art.”

Exhibition & Publicity

An integral part of the competition is the exhibition and public recognition of the awardee’s work. The award ceremony will coincide with an exhibition opening.

Future competitions will be held annually, focusing on the proposed following case studies:

• Palestine / Israel
• Rohingya / Myanmar: Case Study for 2025 – 2026 Competition
• Rwanda / Burundi
• Soviet Union under Stalin
• Sudan
• Uganda
• Yezidi
• Yugoslavia (former): Winning Award Announced April 30, 2025.

The inaugural exhibition: Beyond Genocide & Echoes of Abandonment opened October 20th, 2025 at the Roger Ballen Centre for Photography at the Inside Out Centre for the Arts Johannesburg South Africa.  The awards ceremony took place at the International Association of Genocide Scholars biennial conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Artworks submitted for this exhibition were donated and acquired by the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre for their permanent collection.

Congratulations to Award Winner Linda Paganelli, Visual Anthropologist, Artist and Filmaker for her proposal: Echoes of Abandonment, together with her team of experts Snezana Stankovic and Emina Zoletic for the 2024 – 2025 entry.   

Announcement for the Awards Ceremony – Exhibition: Inside Out Centre for the Arts / Johannesburg, South Africa  October 20 – 24th, 2025.

Echoes of Abandonment is a multi-sensory installation reflecting on genocide in the former Yugoslavia, with a focus on Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Centered around a rotating, illuminated cube inspired by the Rubik’s Cube, the piece merges archival imagery, regional symbols, and evocative landscapes with Bosnian, Serbian, and Albanian prayers and poetry. This immersive structure reflects on loss, denial, and the ongoing struggle for justice. Inspired by the Mourner’s Kaddish, Islamic Sura prayers, and Orthodox medieval poetry, the soundscape becomes a contemporary lament, guiding viewers through a spiritual and emotional terrain. The cube’s dynamic surfaces invite movement, evoking shifting memories and unresolved trauma. Designed for versatility and interactivity, the installation fosters remembrance, compassion, and collective healing. Rooted in fieldwork and collaboration, Echoes of Abandonment offers a poetic and critical lens on historical violence and its enduring aftermath, urging us to remain vigilant and empathetic in the face of future genocides.

Dr. Melanie O’Brien is an Associate Professor of International Law at UWA Law School and immediate past President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Recognized for her expertise in international criminal law, her work on forced marriage has been cited by the International Criminal Court, where she has also served as an amica curia. Dr. O’Brien has advised multiple UN bodies, conducted research across six continents, and is frequently consulted by global media. Her publications include Criminalising Peacekeepers (2017) and From Discrimination to Death (2022). She has held visiting roles at UMN, Sydney Jewish Museum, and the University of Loughborough.

Dr. Bjorn Krondorfer is a Regents’ Professor and Director of the Martin-Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University, where he also teaches Religious Studies. He has held guest faculty positions in Berlin, South Africa, and Amsterdam. Since 2020, he has chaired the national “Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies” and serves on the Honorary Committee for the Social Museum of Jewish History in Kielce, Poland. His recent books include Unsettling Empathy (2020) and The Holocaust and Masculinities (2020). Dr. Krondorfer has organized numerous academic symposia and exhibitions, including Echoes of Loss (2018) and Wounded Landscapes (2014).

Dr. Alexis Herr is a Holocaust historian dedicated to preventing genocide and human rights violations. She holds a Ph.D. from Clark University’s Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies and currently lectures at the University of San Francisco. As co-founder and Director of Education for the Cambodian Genocide Resource Center, her work emphasizes genocide education. She has received numerous awards, including fellowships from the Holocaust Educational Foundation and US Holocaust Memorial Museum. Her publications include The Holocaust and Compensated Compliance in Italy (2016) and upcoming LGBTQ+ and the Holocaust (2025). Dr. Herr also edited key reference guides on Rwanda and Sudan.

Dr. Sabah Carrim is a Postdoctoral Scholar in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the Martin-Springer Institute and a Visiting Scholar at Rutgers University’s Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights (CGHR). She serves as Arts & Literature Editor for Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal and co-hosts Not to Forgive, But to Understand, a podcast on genocide studies. A five-time judge for the African Writers Award, she won the 2024 Afritondo Short Story Prize and the 2019 AfroYoung Adult Short Story Competition. Author of Humeirah and Semi-Apes, she is widely published across Africa, Asia, the UK, and the US.