The Memorial For Those Who Did Not Fall In War

Organized by the Columbia Global Paris Center and Columbia University Global Center for Peace Innovation.

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The memorial will take place over the course of three days. When registering, participants are invited to indicate which day(s) they plan to attend the symposium via the registration form. The detailed program is available below.

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At the heart of this initiative lies a clear claim: in today’s world, none of us truly lives in peace. Societies that define themselves as peaceful sustain global systems of arms trade and military intervention that continuously fuel wars and genocides, while the psychological, ecological, and political consequences of conflict extend far beyond the battlefield, reaching even those who have never set foot in a war zone.

The Memorial for Those Who Did Not Fall in War (MNW) channels this shared accountability and suffering into a collective space of inquiry and creation. Through its Interdisciplinary Lab, Art Gallery, and Pedagogical Hub, MNW brings together leading scholars and artists with students and local communities to radically redefine what it means to be “at peace” and “at war” in the 21st century, toward a future grounded in cross-border peace and ecological justice.

The memorial will be inaugurated at Columbia Global Center Paris on February 11–13, 2026, through three days of symposium, exhibition, workshops, performances, film screenings, and roundtables, from which it will set out on its global journey across each region of the world.

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Program

Day 1: Feb. 11, 2026

09:40–10:15 Gathering

10:15–10:30 Opening Ceremony and Project Vision

• Hadas Zahavi

10:30–12:00 Opening Lecture and Discussion: Témoigner pour le témoin

• Prof. Georges Didi-Huberman (EHESS)

12:00–13:30 Lunch Break

13:30–15:15 Opening Panel: War in Disguise

• Prof. Nina Berman (Columbia University)
• Prof. Françoise Vergès (University of London)
• Kapwani Kiwanga

15:15–15:30 Coffee Break

15:30–16:30 Literary Conversation: Algeria in France Today

• Leïla Sebbar
• Yahia Belaskri

16:30–16:45 Coffee Break

16:45–17:45 Artist Talk: Unlearning War Through Images

• Hito Steyerl
• Prof. Lorie Novak (NYU)
• Session Chair: Laura Lema Silva

18:00–19:00 Exhibition Opening and Artistic Performance:

• What Have I Done to You? Baptist Coelho

19:00–20:00 Live Concert and Dance Performance

• Elia & Ablaye Birahim Diop

Day 2: Feb. 12, 2026

09:30–10:00 Gathering

10:00–11:30 Roundtable: War as a System of Spaces

• Prof. Sarga Moussa (THALIM, CNRS)
• Prof. Luba Jurgenson (CNRS): Paysage de guerre, paysage de paix? À propos d'une zone minière/concentrationnaire en République tchèque
• Prof. Thomas Hippler (University of Caen): Bombarder pour la paix? La guerre aérienne et l’ordre international
• Session Chair: Dr. Guido Furci

11:30–11:45 Coffee Break

11:45–13:15 Interactive Session: Peace in Practice

• Majd Abdel Hamid: Texture of Memory
• Prof. Yann Toma (Sorbonne): L’Air de la guerre
• Barbara Polla (ULB): Hospitalité et paix : un effort perpétuel

13:15–14:30 Lunch Break

14:30–16:00 Artistic Workshop

• Julieta Aranda

16:00–16:15 Coffee Break

16:15–17:45 Roundtable: Peace After the Algorithm

• Prof. Alexandre Gefen (Sorbonne Nouvelle, CNRS): Le langage et la guerre à l’heure de l’IA générative
• Lesia Khomenko: Working on User-Generated Footage from the Russian-Ukrainian War
• Warren Neidich: Peace Machine: The Brain Without Organs

17:45–18:00 Coffee Break

18:00-18:30 Performance

• Inutile, Meltem Yildiz

18:30–20:30 Film Screening: Nikah, followed by Q&A

• Mukaddas Mijit, Bastien Ehouzan

Day 3: Feb. 13, 2026

09:30–10:00 Gathering & Morning Coffee

10:00–11:30 Closing Panel: Whose War Is It, Anyway?

• Prof. Stéphane Gerson (NYU): Quand la guerre se terre sous l’aventure
• Prof. Philippe Mesnard (Université Clermont Auvergne): De quelle imagination parlons-nous ?
• Prof. Catherine Brun (THALIM, CNRS): « Il paraît que nous sommes en guerre »
• Session Chair: Dr. Pauline Hachette (Université Paris 8)

11:30–11:45 Coffee Break

11:45–12:30 Artist Conversation

• Paola Yacoub, La guerre est monotone

12:30–13:30 Closing Workshop

• Dalia Abu Sbitan (THALIM, CNRS): Diagnosing War: A Participatory Session in Narrative Diagnostics

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Board

Hadas Zahavi (direction), Sarah Cole, Marianne Hirsch, Bruno Bosteels, Madeleine Dobie, Nina Berman, Joerg M. Schaefer, David C. Johnston, Thomas W. Dodman.

Pictured: Maps, hand-woven rug made with 22,000 used 9mm American, Russian, Mexican, and Israeli bullet casings found near Guatemala City, Photo courtesy of SF Museum of Craft & Design.

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This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

Reid Hall, the Columbia Global Paris Center, and the Institute for Ideas and Imagination are not responsible for the views and opinions expressed by their speakers and guests.