IN A NUTSHELL: Building Relationships through Culture and Art!

As early as 2009 the founders of Culture for Peace identified the need to systematically strengthen local grass roots organisations in their peace building efforts in societies of transition. While introducing classical approaches to conflict transformation such as peace education, classical dialogue and "Dealing with the Past" to the various peace processes (Nepal, Myanmar), arts-based approaches were systematically included in consultation and implemantation of locally owned peace projects.

The potential of art and culture in overcoming conflict and violence has been extensively described in the "culture and conflict" literature.

We enhance social change and conflict transformation through cultural, artistic and educational initiatives.

We promote intra- and intergroup dialogue in remote areas of regions in transition.

We develop tailor-made and innovative methodolgy with our local partners and international experts and generate best-practice.

We connect local everyday peace potentials with national and international networks.

Artists contribute to counterbalancing shrinking space and tirelessly raise their voice to social and political issues. Therefore they can often be defined as human rights defenders or peace building artists. Sometimes - as a last resort - they have to be temporarily relocated because they face repression in their home country. This can contribute to damaging brain drain and loss of peace potential.

We analyse and facilitate potentials within wider eco systems of human rights defenders (including artists and journalists).

We connect relocation of human rights defenders with systematic approaches to strengthening everyday peace potentials and structures.

 

     

RELATIONSHIPS      PEACE BUILDING      DIALOGUE      COMMUNITY WORK      ART & CULTURAL APPROACHES     

 

EVENTS      CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION

 

 

Nepal: Building Relationships through Dialogue and Art

Dialogue Group in Chitwan, Nepal

Our project "From Shared Truths to Joint Responsibilities (Sha:re)" in cooperation with inmedio berlin, supported by Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen e.V. with funds from the German Foreign Office, supported the Nepalese peace process at community level by strengthening existing structures and capacities for community-based dealing with the past. Thus, it contributed to social reintegration of former Maoist combatants (ex-PLA) into the local civil society. The overall goal was to ameliorate the relationships between long-established community members on the one hand and recently settled ex-PLA as well as conflict victims from both sides in the districts of Kailali, Chitwan, Surkhet and Saptari. This in consequence increased the resilience of communities towards violent conflict potential.

Our main contributions to the project

  • Project Coordination / Project Cycle Management
  • Organisational Development (Two-way learning, process/context-oriented)
  • Strategic Arts- and Media-Based Conflict Transformation

Vision and Mission

Art can be a powerful tool in processes of social change and conflict transformation.... Culture defines and generates modalities of thought, paradigm and action as well as modes of planning, memory and communication.... They hold the potential to sustainably transform cultural violence and defamation, to develop people's personalities, to provide a framework for building relationships beyond one’s own groups and to increase future potentials.

All projects of Culture for Peace support local efforts for non-violent, civil and democratic empowerment while we connect local partners with communities and other change makers regardless of religion, ethnicity, caste, gender, age or political background.