arts-inspired peacebuilding

Emergent from the practice and life-vocation of peacebuilding and the pursuit of nonviolent social transformation, change agents need to envision themselves as artists. Building adaptive and responsive processes to accompany and facilitate social change requires a creative act, which at its core is more art than technique. Time and again, lasting social change that makes a difference has the DNA of the artist's intuition: The complexity of human experience captured in a simple image and in a way that moves individuals and whole societies. Far beyond the instrumental use of arts, peacebuilding unfolds as an artistic and aesthetic process. In this section, the archives explore the evolution and examples of John Paul's understanding and practice of arts-inspired peacebuilding.

Exploring Environmental Violence: Perspectives, Experience, Expression, and Engagement

A volume containing contributions from a variety of disciplines that explores the implications of and responses to environmental violence.

The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace

A book weaving thoughts and insights about the nature, challenges, and possibilities of constructive social change.

Foreword, Journal of Peace Education

The foreword to a journal issue on music and peace education, this article considers the centrality of sound, vibration, and music to social change and response to deep conflict.

Prelude, The Edge of a Cry

The prelude to Oumar Farouk Sesay's book of poetry entitled The Edge of a Cry.

Forewords, Navigating the Nexus of Art and Peace

A foreword authored for the book Navigating the Nexus of Art and Peace: A reflective guide for peacebuilding practitioners and artists working together to transform conflict and inspire creativity published by Women Peace Makers in Cambodia.

Foreword, Acting Together

The foreword to the first volume of Acting Together: Performance and the Creative Transformation of Conflict, which describes peacebuilding performances in regions beset by violence and internal conflicts.

Music Writ Large: The Potential of Music in Peacebuilding

A chapter exploring music's contribution to peacebuilding and conflict transformation.

The Arts and Peacebuilding: Using Imagination and Creativity

A chapter that explores three examples that illustrate the power of arts and creativity in building peace.

The Wow Factor and a Non-Theory of Change

A thought piece that explores positive approaches to peacebuilding as a composite moment in which the creative process lifts sight to a new, more holistic view.