This talk explores the tensions between the visible and the invisible in the context of conflict. How does representation make the invisible visible and vice versa? How does the performance of the body affected by conflict play a role in the interplay between visibility and invisibility? How do power relations play out to determine who gets to be seen, and therefore heard? What does this tell us about inequalities in the world, especially in the context of representations of conflicts like Syria and Ukraine?

Lina Khatib is the author of Image Politics in the Middle East: The Role of the Visual in Political Struggle. She is a frequent commentator in the media, a co-founder of the World Metal Congress, and besides her job directing the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House dabbles in theatre and visual arts.