The
Weight
of
a
Dove...
with
Laura
Giesdorf
In the series FROM OUR WALLS, members of the team talk about works in the gallery that resonate with them personally. Today, Laura Giesdorf, Creative Producer at KÖNIG GALERIE, introduces PeaceDA, a porcelain dove by Ukrainian artist Julia Beliaeva. The choice of material is central to the work's power: the fragility of porcelain becomes a quiet metaphor for compassion itself. Not something that simply exists, but something that must be handled with care and chosen again and again.
© Photo by KÖNIG GALERIE
However, what gives the piece its real depth is Beliaeva's own interpretation of the symbol. Rather than the dove's familiar role as a peace icon being settled for, a second, more unsettling possibility is opened up by her: the dove as a peace that is only performed—a peace without justice or genuine commitment, one that can mask the violence still to come.
© Photo by Roman März
It is this dual interpretation that gives PeaceDA its strength. For someone viewing it from a place of apparent calm, the dove is reassuring, symbolising harmony. However, for someone with direct experience of war, that same symbol can feel hollow, like a polished gesture standing in for something that was never truly resolved. The work does not resolve this tension; it holds both readings simultaneously and allows the viewer's own position in the world to determine which interpretation is more impactful.
It is this ambivalence, porcelain as both fragile beauty and fragile pretence, that elevates PeaceDA beyond the realm of mere aesthetics. It's a piece that encourages viewers to question their assumptions about the true cost of peace and who gets to define it.
Check out the accompanying video on Instagram.
