ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE AT DIEFENBUNKER MUSEUM!

The Diefenbunker: Canada’s Cold War Museum is proud to announce Olivia Johnston and Neeko Paluzzi as its 2025 Artists-in-Residence. Their residency will culminate in a multi-level, mixed-media exhibition that critically examines the failures of globalization in the post–Cold War era. Through their work, Johnston and Paluzzi aim to inspire reflection on the themes of peace, conflict, and the fragility of human existence.

The Diefenbunker’s annual Artist-in-Residence Program offers a unique opportunity to engage with Canadian history in a creative way—75 feet underground. It invites local artists to interpret history through their own perspectives, and their work, in turn, gives visitors the chance to connect with the past in new and thought-provoking ways. The Diefenbunker, designed to ensure the continuity of Canada’s government in the event of nuclear war, embodies the balancing act the government performed: maintaining peace and stability while preparing for potential catastrophe.

Johnston and Paluzzi’s exhibition will explore the fragile peace of the post–Cold War world, with evocative works examining the links between peace, globalization, and capitalism. “Growing up in the 1990s, we were taught that globalization would bring stability through trade—and yet, decades later, the world remains precariously close to conflict, reminding us how many of globalization’s promises were never fulfilled,” say Johnston and Paluzzi. An exhibition underscoring the need for peace feels particularly urgent today.  

“In a time of geopolitical turbulence, this exhibition will encourage visitors to examine the divides that conflict created between neighbours, peoples, and nations during the Cold War—and what continues to stand in the way of global peace today,” explains Diefenbunker Curator Sean Campbell.