The Vrede van Utrecht Foundation, in conjunction with partners in the Netherlands and Europe, developed a spectacular commemorative program entitled the "Art of making Peace" (taken from the title of the exhibition) to mark the tercentenary of the Treaty of Utrecht: concluded on 11 April 1713. The Treaty of Utrecht brought an end to a series of devastating wars that had claimed many millions of lives over a period of two centuries.
Over the course of six months (April – September 2013) the Art of Making Peace allowed the people of Utrecht to journey through time, looking back but also forward at local, regional and European implications of the Treaty.
Apart from the Making Peace photo exhibition the programme featured many other events involving art, theatre, dance, music and new media. The celebrated American author and Harvard Professor Steven Pinker gave an outstanding presentation from his book 'The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined'. He later gave this comment on the exhibition:
"Making Peace is immensely informative and intensely inspiring — a masterpiece of visual communication, and a contribution to the noble aim of making peace" — Steven Pinker, Harvard University