“Based on True Events” documents war reenactments across Europe in order to question how historical wars are understood and remembered, confronting viewers with the paradoxical aesthetics of war.
It explores how history is constructed and accessed, and which aspects may be forgotten, simplified, or repressed.
With every reenactment, the historical events on which they are based are reinterpreted, carrying the risk of distortion or simplification. Reenactments present a form of “perfect warfare” that cannot fully convey the realities of death, displacement, and trauma. What exactly is being reenacted; something that happened, or something that is believed to have happened? The work emphasizes the over-aestheticization of these performances, highlighting the tension between truth and fiction.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Arne Piepke (*1991) is a documentary photographer from Germany, working with themes such as history, collective identity, war remembrance and tradition. He has a M.A. in Photographic Studies.
