Organizations focused on Peacebuilding and the Arts

Peru: Indigenous Youth Arts

MADRE - In Ayacucho, Peru, where most people are Indigenous, young people face extreme poverty, entrenched discrimination and the ongoing effects of a 20-year war between the repressive government of Alberto Fujimori and the brutal Shining Path guerillas.

Young people today have very few economic, educational or creative opportunities. Many of their communities have been shattered by violence, displacement and migration born of poverty. These conditions degrade the vibrancy and transmission of Indigenous culture, leaving youth without the social and cultural resources they need to survive and resist human rights violations and build a better future for themselves and their communities.

MADRE organizes month-long sculpture workshops and an exchange program for Indigenous youth from Ayacucho. The program is organized jointly by MADRE, our Peruvian sister organization CHIRAPAQ, and the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center in Vermont. Each year, the young artists’ work is exhibited in the Ayacucho municipality in a ceremony that is attended by hundreds of community members and visitors, giving participants a rare opportunity for creative self-expression and recognition.

Read more about Madre - Demanding Rights, Resources & Results for Women Worldwide

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All Africa International Dance Festival:
Celebrating the Role of Cultural Dance in Peace Building and Human Understanding

June 17, 2009
Kabissa - History and current experience shows that so deep are the pains of most of the conflicts experienced in Africa that the popular individualized and rationalistic approaches to healing and transformation simply lack the language and resources to solidly address the challenge of holistic peaceful transformation. “Arts approaches” provide an accessible language, compelling processes that affirm everyone’s creativity and, above all, an inclusive space that enables healing, genuine dialogue and transformation to happen particularly where the violent conflicts and pains are experienced by masses of people. African countries that are victims of conflicts can use dance and drama to subtly address the issues among community members. Dance promotes the sense of belonging and can promote and motivate change, unite communities for a cause and rally them to a common vision including promoting peace, conflict prevention, Human Understanding and democracy.

Read more on the December 2009 conference

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Art and Social Justice International Conference and Exhibition
Durban University of Technology, South Africa

The 2010 Art and Social Justice Conference will address a range of critically important issues and themes relating to the arts in promoting human rights and social justice in society. Plenary speakers will include leading thinkers and practitioners in the arts, health, justice, education etc. as well as paper, workshop and colloquium presentations by researchers and practitioners in all fields of artistic engagement. The objective of the conference is to serve as a platform for art practitioners and organizations to share experiences drawn from a variety of international contexts to discuss mutual concerns and find solutions to commonly experienced challenges.

Read more on the March 2010 conference

Updated on 9/27/2009