Art and Peacebuilding

This conference carries the title, “Art in the Place of Conflict,” my sharing today will focus on “The Place of Art in Building Peace.”

The small switch that I am trying to make is not minimize the important conference nuances that come with the title: Art in lieu of conflict; Art in situ; Art as entry; Art that questions – all these are captured in that original title.

My orientation takes a more personal bent. I will explore in the next few minutes, the long pathway I have traveled in locating the significance, the bridging, and the place of the artistic process and art itself and how it plays out when the human community opens toward healing and understanding rather than harm and humiliation…