Creative peacebuilding (visual arts)

Creative peacebuilding is a form of visual arts that offers a creative means to bring about peace within conflicted contexts. The use of the visual arts for effective peacebuilding emphasizes a consideration of the nature of the context where the tool is applied by not necessarily following a set format or paradigm. It reflects the potential to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, and interpretations geared towards establishing and sustaining peace.

Generally speaking, the arts refers to the theory and the physical expressions of creativity found in human societies and cultures. The major constituents of the arts include literature (poetry, novels, short stories, and epic poetry), performing arts (music, dance, and theatre), and the visual arts, the last of which includes creations that can be seen. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the term "creative" describes a quality of something created rather than imitated.[1] In light of this, creative peacebuilding is a broad term for creative therapeutic strategies to create peace, within individuals, groups, and societies in conflict situations. Although used primarily to overcome violence, creative peacebuilding is also a preventative measure explored to establish stronger foundations of peaceful initiatives, especially when used with children.[2]

Definitions of peacebuilding

Peacebuilding is a process that facilitates the establishment of sustainable peace by preventing the recurrence of violence through different approaches which address the root causes and effects of conflict. Peacebuilding is an alternative to violence through reconciliation, and economic and social transformation.

The term peacebuilding has been widely used since 1992, when it was used by the former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in his An Agenda for Peace. Boutros-Ghali described peacebuilding as "action to identify and support structures, which will tend to strengthen and solidify peace in order to avoid a relapse into conflict."[3]

According to Johan Galtung, peacebuilding is the process of creating self-supporting structures that "remove causes of wars and offer alternatives to war in situations where wars might occur."[2] For John Paul Lederach, peacebuilding is a comprehensive concept that encompasses, generates, and sustains the full array of processes, approaches, and stages needed to transform conflict toward more sustainable, peaceful relationships, which involves a wide range of activities. It has a diverse range of interaction and involves various stakeholders in various levels within the spectrum of governance and development.[4]

Peacebuilding through the visual arts

If visual arts are artistic expressions that can be seen in their diversity rather than heard, then the relationship between visual arts and creative peacebuilding is reflected in the felt experience of creative peacebuilding in conflict situations. Visual arts are created to stimulate visual experiences. They are employed to help individuals cope with their feelings and treat post-traumatic stress disorder.

Creative peacebuilding through the visual arts is a process that facilitates the establishments of sustainable peace by preventing recurrence of violence, addresses the root causes, healing and effects of conflict, and offer alternatives to violence through reconciliation, economic and social transformation with the use of photography, film, painting, and the like. Jolyon Mitchell argues that the visual arts can both encourage peacebuilding and instigating violence. This is true of various forms of visual arts, ranging from posters, cartoons, and stained glass, to websites, radio, and films by reflecting on examples from around the world.[5]

Photography

Photography is the science and art of creating durable images with light or other electromagnetic radiation, either through the use of an image sensor or chemical means of a light-sensitive. Susan Sontag opines that a photographer has the ability to create a reality by examining pictures.[6] Photography is one of the forms of new media that changes perceptions and changes the structure of society. The objectivity and subjectivity of a photograph is sometimes problematic. Sontag argues, "To photograph is to appropriate the thing photographed. It means putting one's self into a certain relation to the world that feels like knowledge, and therefore like power."[6] Photographers decide what to photograph, what elements to exclude, and what angle to frame the photo, and these factors may reflect a particular socio-historical context.

Along these lines, it can be argued that photography is a subjective form of representation. The visual quality of photographic images is particularly effective in grabbing, maintaining, and retaining viewers' attention. It is commonly stated that a picture is worth a thousand words. In the context of creative peacebuilding, the visual qualities of photographic images provide specific benefits. The power of an image to establish an objective work is the sole judge of the message the viewer's read. Subjective truth makes it an effective tool for peacebuilding. Images span generations, languages, and cultural differences. Different people can easily engage with the characters or situations presented to them, regardless of their background. Pictures are both cognitively and emotionally compelling – a process that is essential to peacebuilding mechanism. The power of image is also condition by its design and purpose. Furthermore, photographic contents and images are employed to negotiate issues of the past in creative ways highlighting the incidents, experiences, emotions, and themes thus fostering alternative imagination of the future that will help to sustain peace.[7]

Photography promotes freedom of participation, access, and engagement, which is within the control of the viewer, and also opens up process for peacebuilding. At their discretion and their pace, the viewer engages and reflects on their experiences, while seeing and dwelling in the experience of others. Such an experience often creates the need to revisit the picture.

Websites

Jolyon Mitchell has written about how websites have been used as a medium for promoting peace on the screen. Through the web, the world has become a global village. Therefore, websites can be created to facilitate peacebuilding. It offers a virtual location whereby individuals can login, get information, take action, and post and share issues to aid in peacebuilding.[8]

References

Footnotes

1. "Definition of Creative". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
2. "Selected Definitions of Peacebuilding". Washington: Alliance for Peacebuilding. 12 August 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
3. Boutros-Ghali 1992, p. 6.
4. Lederach 2005.
5. Mitchell 2012.
6. Sontag 2001.
7. Bidey, Tim (31 December 2014). "Picturing Peace: Using Photography in Conflict Transformation". Peace Insight. Peace Direct. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
8. Mitchell 2012, pp. 189–215.

Bibliography

Boutros-Ghali, Boutros (1992). An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-keeping. United Nations. ODS A/47/277.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Lederach, John Paul (2005). The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace. New York: Oxford University Press (published 2010). ISBN 978-0-19-974758-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Mitchell, Jolyon (2012). Promoting Peace, Inciting Violence: The Role of Religion and Media. Abingdon, England: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-55746-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Sontag, Susan (2001) [1977]. On Photography. New York: Picador. ISBN 978-0-312-42009-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)