Art and Upheaval

Artists working under a variety of difficult conditions in disparate parts of the world have helped to mediate conflicts, rebuild public infrastructure, heal physical and psychic trauma, and give new voice to the forgotten and disappeared. This project used field research to document the history and practices of such artists. The research was conducted with an eye to providing insight into how the creative process is being used to mitigate violence, destruction, dislocation, and despair. A book will be published to share these stories. It includes the programme histories, research, and descriptions of the wide variety of artistic, educational, and healing approaches used by the various initiatives and programmes. It also recounts many of the financial, social, and political strategies employed to build and sustain support for these endeavours.

To cite one example of a project unearthed through this research, the Community Arts Forum in Belfast is an artist-run, community-based organisation that uses art to mitigate violence and mistrust in Northern Ireland. Artists have worked to provide a creative voice for communities through community-originated theatre productions, mural programmes, festivals, and work with prisoners, people with disabilities, and patients in hospitals and mental health facilities.

This research culminated in a publication titled "Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World's Frontlines".

Conflict.

According to organisers, the activities of artists in places vulnerable to continued conflict, like Northern Ireland, Eritrea, Cambodia, and Bosnia, are largely unknown. They point out that human creativity "can help us heal the deepest and most destructive of our self-inflicted wounds." In short, the driving conviction is that art can be a powerful agent of personal, institutional, and community change.