James Peck (artist)

James Peck
James Peck to the right of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner after receiving his National Identity Document.
Born	1968 (age 48–49) Stanley, Falkland Islands
Nationality	Argentine / British

James Peck (born 1968) is an artist and writer born in the Falkland Islands who holds both Argentine and British citizenship.

Peck was born in the island's capital, Stanley, and belongs to a family with four generations living in the islands. His family is of English, Scottish and Irish descent. James is the youngest of three brothers. His father, Terry Peck, was chief of police in the islands and fought on the British side in the Falklands War in the Battle of Mount Longdon.

James' artistic work features the Falklands War reflecting the suffering of individual soldiers particularly the Argentine conscripts. Whilst exhibiting in Buenos Aires he met and befriended Miguel Savage, an Argentine Veteran of the Falklands War. Savage also fought in the Battle of Mount Longdon and travelled to the islands meeting and staying with Terry Peck before his death from cancer in 2006.

Whilst living in Buenos Aires, Peck met and married the Argentine artist María Abriani. After moving back to the Falklands they had two children. In 2002, there was controversy in the Falkland Islands when officials denied free medical treatment for María whilst pregnant with their first child Jack who was subsequently born in Argentina.

In 2007, Peck unsuccessfully sought election to the Falkland Islands Government advocating a tougher stance in negotiations with Argentina at a time when the Falkland Islands Government had proposed direct talks with Argentina.

In 2011, it was widely claimed that he was the first person born in the Falklands to obtain an Argentine birth certificate (this ignores for example Alejandro Betts in 1982, and many others). These reports claim that Argentine law and its sovereignty claim over the archipelago confer citizenship for all those born in the islands, although Argentina also describes islanders variously as "illegal", "squatters", an "illegally implanted population".