Art of Peace: The Value of Culture in Post-Conflict Recovery

The report highlights two particular strengths of arts and cultural programmes during times of conflict. The first is their ability to engage communities in their own cultural language. The second is their ability to foster understanding. Arts and culture are regarded as offering a more neutral ground for mutual understanding than explicit peacebuilding activities, because they are able to bring people from different groups together around a shared interest and goal, rather than around issues related to the conflict. They also provide a form of expression and a creative reflection. In Syria, the research profiles an arts therapy initiative for vulnerable street children, and theatre projects which have been used to help communities process the trauma of conflict and build a stronger sense of belonging.

But the research cautions that the ability of the arts to transform conflict in and of themselves must not be overstated, and that, like other interventions, they can even exacerbate conflict. It also identified a number of key risks and challenges for arts and cultural programmes in conflict-affected contexts, some of which also apply to other areas of intervention, such as unrealistic expectations; a limited evidence base; problems evaluating impact; top-down approaches; lack of conflict sensitivity; and difficulties of scale.

Key implications of the report for international cultural organisations include the need to commission further research to understand the role of culture in promoting resilience in conflict-affected areas; and the use of this research to develop new theories of change. It also suggests the need for cultural programmes to focus on tangible and realistic goals, in areas such as confidence building, skills training, self-expression, and intergroup understanding and tolerance.

Arts and cultural programmes can have success when they are locally led, based on an understanding of local cultural traditions, and linked to wider reconciliation and recovery programmes

The existing evidence indicates that arts and cultural programmes can have success when they are locally led, based on an understanding of local cultural traditions, and linked to wider reconciliation and recovery programmes.

Blog article https://globaldev.blog/how-arts-and-culture-help-post-conflict-communities-recover-and-re-connect/ 

Podcast https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-insight/our-world-connected-pod…