Photography by Susan Meiselas, Sylvia Plachy, and Lekha Singh
Curated by Anna Lopriore

A century ago, 90 percent of war casualties were male soldiers. There have been 250 major conflicts since World War II with 23 million acknowledged casualties. Today, an estimated 90 percent of casualties are civilians, and 75 percent of these are estimated to be women and children. Research shows that women are more likely to be displaced as a result of war, more likely to be the sole providers of children and the elderly, and more likely to die of disease caused by the lack of sanitation wars create. Women and children make up 80 percent of refugees worldwide.

If we are to understand war fully, we need to understand not only what happens on the frontlines, but what happens on the back lines as well, where women are in charge of keeping life going. This photo exhibition is based on the book "The Other Side of War: Women's Stories of Survival and Hope" by Zainab Salbi, Founder of Women for Women International in collaboration with National Geographic.

Through their stories, women help us understand the real costs of war, the interruption of basic commerce of daily living, the way it upends families and downsizes even the most modest dreams. Through their stories, we also learn how to rebuild a country, a community, a family.

Like war itself, this exhibition is a mosaic, a mixture of intimate stories and pictures as told by the women survivors of war and as captured by three remarkable women photographers in six very different conflict and post-conflict countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Sudan, Afghanistan, and Rwanda.

Perhaps by understanding this other side of war, we will think twice before engaging in facile discussions of numbers and statistics that distance the topic from its full human truth. This exhibition is about women and what they see and say about war, and how they survived it. Expert panels and workshops will cover topics that are central to the lives of people in the region. Events related to the exhibit:

Women's Economic, Political and Social Rights in the Aftermath of a War - A panel discussion followed by a Q & A with women's activists from Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Chechnya, and Liberia.

Addressing the Consequences of Rape and Sexual Violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - Discussion with local human rights leader from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and film screening.

Behind Closed Doors: The Reality of Women's Participation in Peace Agreements - A panel discussing and featuring women in the peacemaking process.