Making peace through art

An art is a form of expression. Using artistic expression to engage with young people from different regions and backgrounds is a popular approach to involve youth in peace building/conflict transformation initiatives in Sri Lanka. Projects that have adopted this approach have pointed out that theatre, music, art and photography could be used effectively to help young people find expression and build relationships with one another. Below are a few examples of initiatives which use different forms of art creatively to promote an alternative way/space for thinking.

Intervening in conflict transformation through involving in artistic expression

Janakaraliya

Janakaraliya is a theatre group formed with Sinhalese and Tamil youth from different parts of the country. The mobile theatre group, who aims to take theatre to rural areas of the country, has been performing plays in different parts of the country for the last three years. The group adapts to the community they are with and performs the play in the language of the majority in the area they perform in. The themes plays focus on vary, but they are themes which both Sinhalese and Tamil communities could relate to. The audience is encouraged to engage in a discussion after the performance.

Inter Act Art

Inter Act Art is another theatre group with a fresh approach to youth and conflict transformation. In the first stage of a 10-month cycle, they select young people who are interested in theatre from different parts of the country and provide them with necessary training to improve their acting skills at district level. The second stage of the project would see a selected group of youth who have received training at the district level being brought together for a production. Inter Act Art takes an unconventional approach to the production of the play. Stories which are performed are those brought to the group by different participants from different parts of the country and are performed in the native tongue of the participants. Inter Act Art experiments by mixing and matching different styles of music and dance as well.

November Movement

November Movement seeks to use music to connect with youth and to promote an alternative way of thinking among them. The Movement intends to perform musical shows in different parts of the country and to reach out to young people by urging them to pay attention to the lyrics by encouraging a discussion of music and lyrics after the performance.

Rationale

It is the belief and the experiential truth that ‘youth respond better to the arts’ that laid the foundational stone for the majority of projects engaging with youth through this avenue. Out of this, the idea was born that shared interest in the arts could be explored to find a common ground in which young people from different backgrounds could meet, share ideas and build relationships with one another. Engaging with different forms of art provides an opportunity to step away from the day-to-day preoccupations and creates an environment in which they could develop their skills as well as interact with people from different communities. As an implementer at Inter Act Art pointed out:

“The socio-political context of the country has made it impossible for people from different backgrounds to work together. We spend a lot of time trying to keep our heads above the water that we don’t even have the time to get to know our neighbour. What we try to do through Inter Act Art is to mix people from different backgrounds and give them the opportunity to see something different from what they have experienced so far; to live with people from different walks of life and learn to respect one another while improving their chances at a better life.”

Successes

The creative and innovative means of spreading the message of peace through the arts has had an impact on the lives of those who are involved as well as the lives they touch through performances. A member of the Janakaraliya group pointed out:

“It is only at the end of the play when we introduce ourselves in our mother tongue that they know we are not what they thought we were. What we do is that we show people we can live and work together, that we can live in peace. People have said that they were happy to see us working together. If we are in a Sinhalese community, they get friendly with the Tamils; and it happens the other way around too. Even if we are not fluent in Sinhala or Tamil, people appreciate us trying. They find it appealing and that helps. We present the theatre group as a small Sri Lanka and work together in peace.”

The opportunity these initiatives present to work and live with people from different communities helps minimise the gaps between young participants. Young members of the Janakaraliya group as well as the Inter Act Art team pointed out that in their lives prior to the theatre group; they were exposed to different sources of influence, which were heavily governed by the socio-economic contexts in which they lived in. The experience of sharing and caring for one another has helped minimise this gap. Moreover, the shared experiences have lifted the linguistic and ethnic barriers which prevented friendships across communities.

“We don’t have to speak of peace specifically … We know from our experience that we can use the arts to build relationships and to bring people together. We have changed ourselves. As a Tamil, I didn’t trust Sinhalese people. I didn’t have Sinhalese friends. Now it has changed. Even our home folk ask about the well being of our Sinhalese friends now. We don’t have to fear travelling across the country because we know that there are people who would come to our rescue if we get into trouble.”
Member of the Janakaraliya group