John Paul Lederach in his thought-provoking book The Moral Imagination: the Art and Soul of Building Peace reflects “On Aesthetics: the Art of Social Change”. He observes how the peacebuilding practice is being bogged down with technical aspects and political content, and thus is missing out on art – the core of what creates and sustains constructive social change. Lederach thus calls for seeking the genuine connection of discipline and art, the integration of skill and aesthetics.
We take inspiration from this art of social change and looks at arts in social change. With the understanding that social change and conflict transformation are interlinked, our work at theater.system ventures to incorporate Performance and the aesthetics of Interactive Theatre into the field of Conflict Transformation. Why we do so is quite clear from what Augusto Boal says in his book Games for Actors and Non-Actors:
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Note: we would consciously avoid the terms peace work, peacebuilding, peacemaking, peacekeeping, conflict resolution/management; and rather stick to the more overarching, process-oriented notion of conflict transformation.
We take inspiration from this art of social change and looks at arts in social change. With the understanding that social change and conflict transformation are interlinked, our work at theater.system ventures to incorporate Performance and the aesthetics of Interactive Theatre into the field of Conflict Transformation. Why we do so is quite clear from what Augusto Boal says in his book Games for Actors and Non-Actors:
“Theatre is a form of knowledge; it should and can also be a means of transforming society. Theatre can help us build our future, rather than just waiting for it.”Needless to say, our notion of Interactive Theatre emenates from Theatre of the Oppressed and Theatre for Living. We strive to embody the repertoire of Systemic Conflict Transformation with our theatre work. We believe that the process of systemically transforming conflict through performing is a promising one.
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Note: we would consciously avoid the terms peace work, peacebuilding, peacemaking, peacekeeping, conflict resolution/management; and rather stick to the more overarching, process-oriented notion of conflict transformation.
