OLIVE BRANCHTHE

Teacher’s GuideThe Educators’ Magazine

of Seeds of Peace

Summer 2013

Special Issue: “Expressive Arts; Educational Transformations

International

Th

e O

liv

e B

ran

ch

Teac

her

’s G

uid

e S

um

mer

2013

30

Th

e O

liv

e B

ran

ch

Teac

her

’s G

uid

e S

um

mer

2013

31

By

Deb

bie

Nath

an

Arts

brid

ge,

Inc.

is a

Bos

ton-

base

d

nonp

rofit

org

ani

zatio

n w

ith p

artn

er

site

s th

roug

hout

Isra

el, Pa

lestin

e, a

nd

the

USA

. Th

e goa

l of A

rtsbrid

ge

is to

cre

ate

a s

afe

env

ironm

ent f

or it

s stud

ents,

whi

ch fo

ster

s un

der

stand

ing, cu

rios-

ity, cr

eativ

ity, and

leader

ship

. U

sing

art

and

dia

logue

to b

ring

them

toget

her,

Arts

brid

ge

empow

-er

s its

stu

den

ts to

bec

ome

leader

s in

th

e que

st fo

r a b

right

er fu

ture

in a

nd

bet

wee

n th

eir ow

n co

mm

uniti

es.

A k

ey c

ompon

ent t

o th

e A

rtsbrid

ge

mod

el is

the

cont

inua

tion

of p

ro-

gra

mm

ing, ye

ar ro

und, on

ce th

e stud

ents ret

urn

to th

eir ho

me

com

-m

uniti

es.

Upon

ret

urni

ng to

thei

r ho

me

com

-m

uniti

es, th

e A

rtsbrid

ge

gra

dua

tes

ARTSBRIDGE, INC.

Using

art

& d

ialo

gue

to e

mpow

er y

oung

leader

s

serv

e as

pee

r le

ader

s to

you

nger

stud

ents fr

om th

eir co

mm

uniti

es a

nd

enco

urage

thei

r parti

cipatio

n in

act

iviti

es th

at p

rom

ote

com

mun

ity

bui

ldin

g, ef

fect

ive

com

mun

icatio

n,

arti

stic

exp

ress

ion,

Eng

lish

lang

uage

enric

hmen

t, and

res

pec

tful l

iste

ning

. Th

e tra

inin

g rec

eive

d d

urin

g th

e A

rtsbrid

ge

sum

mer

pro

gra

m e

nable

s ou

r gra

dua

tes

to a

ct a

s ro

le m

odel

s and

men

tors

, th

ereb

y im

parti

ng th

e kn

owle

dge

and

idea

s th

ey le

arn

ed

in th

e su

mm

er p

rogra

m to

thes

e ne

w

stud

ents.

The

arti

stic

pro

cess

ser

ves

seve

ral

pur

pos

es in

the

dia

logic

pro

cess

. It

teach

es th

e parti

cipant

s to

thin

k cr

eativ

ely.

Art

enable

s in

div

idua

ls to

beg

in to

exp

lore

issu

es n

on-v

erbally

and

safe

ly.

Thro

ugh

art,

one

mov

es

bey

ond w

ords,

allo

win

g fo

r gre

ate

r ex

pre

ssio

n of

idea

s and

feel

ings.

It

also

allo

ws

stud

ents to

wor

k to

get

her to

ward

s a c

omm

on v

isio

n.

Thro

ugh

the

join

t art

pro

ject

s, p

ar-

ticip

ant

s re

aliz

e th

at t

hey

are

able

to

wor

k to

get

her des

pite

diff

eren

ces.

Peacebuilding and the Arts

Join

the

Glo

bal C

onve

rsatio

nBy

Cyn

thia

Coh

en In

Bel

gra

de,

Ser

bia

, co

urageo

us

and

cre

ativ

e th

eate

r arti

sts

ack

now

l-ed

ge

crim

es c

omm

itted

in th

eir

nam

es a

nd s

pea

k tru

th to

pow

er. In

th

e sm

all

tow

n of

Per

qui

n, E

l Salv

a-

dor

, su

rviv

ors

of a

mass

acr

e fro

m

bot

h sides

of t

he p

oliti

cal d

ivid

e m

emor

ializ

e th

eir lo

sses

toget

her

whi

le p

ain

ting c

olor

fully

vib

rant

m

urals o

f the

bet

ter fu

ture

for w

hich

th

ey y

earn

. In

Aus

tralia

, a s

erie

s of

sm

all

reco

ncili

atio

n rit

uals g

rew

into

a m

ovem

ent t

hat l

ed to

an

offic

ial

apol

ogy

to th

e “S

tole

n G

ener

atio

n,”

abor

igin

al c

hild

ren

forc

ibly

take

n fro

m th

eir fa

mili

es. Th

ere,

and

in c

it-ie

s all

over

the

wor

ld, yo

ung p

eople

are

bui

ldin

g rel

atio

nshi

ps

acr

oss

dif-

fere

nces

thro

ugh

the

share

d rhy

thm

s of

hip

hop

. A

ll of

the

arts

—m

usic

, th

eatre

, vi

sual a

rts, lit

eratu

re, arc

hite

ctur

e,

film

, and

mor

e—ca

n be

crafte

d to

co

ntrib

ute

to th

e cr

eativ

e tra

nsfo

rma-

tion

of c

onfli

ct. W

hy?

Bec

aus

e th

ey

engage

the

cogni

tive,

em

otio

nal,

phy

sica

l, and

spiri

tual d

imen

sion

s of

peo

ple

in w

orks

that c

an

esca

pe

from

the

cons

train

ts o

f eve

ryday

lan-

gua

ge,

whi

ch, in

zon

es o

f vio

lenc

e,

is u

sually

“in

fect

ed”

with

the

thou

ght

patte

rns

of th

e co

nflic

t. Th

e arts

can

be

crafte

d to

rea

ch b

enea

th d

efen

s-es

, to

open

our

min

ds

to n

ew w

ays

of

thin

king

, ou

r he

arts

to n

ew k

inds

of fe

elin

gs,

and

our

who

le b

eing

s to

ne

w p

erce

ptio

ns.

It isn’

t tha

t the

arts

do

this a

uto-

matic

ally

. In

fact

, w

e kn

ow th

at t

he

trans

form

ativ

e pow

er o

f the

arts

can

be

mob

ilize

d fo

r gre

at h

arm

as

wel

l as

for goo

d.

But

arti

sts

who

se e

thic

al s

ensibili

-tie

s and

inte

ntio

ns a

lign

with

justic

e and

pea

ce c

an

invi

te th

eir co

m-

mun

ities

to e

ngage

with

con

tent

ious

issu

es a

nd to

pic

s th

at a

re o

ther

wise

taboo

. A

rtists

can

offe

r cr

eativ

e ap-

pro

ach

es to

res

ist a

bus

es o

f pow

er

and

to h

elp c

omm

uniti

es u

nder

sieg

e re

stor

e th

e fu

ll ra

nge

of h

uman

emot

ions

. A

rt pro

cess

es c

an

be

crafte

d to

nou

rish

the

com

mun

ica-

tive

capaci

ties

for pea

cebui

ldin

g,

enha

ncin

g p

eople

’s abili

ties

to li

sten

and

to e

xpre

ss th

emse

lves

so

othe

rs

can

hear.

Bec

aus

e art

sym

bol

s co

mm

unic

ate

on

so

many

leve

ls a

t onc

e, th

e arts

can

addre

ss th

e co

mple

xity

of

situ

atio

ns a

nd h

elp u

s to

em

bra

ce

the

para

dox

es th

at a

re p

art

of a

ny

pea

cebui

ldin

g p

roce

ss.

I rec

ently

com

ple

ted th

e pro

duc

tion

pha

se o

f a m

ajo

r in

tern

atio

nal a

c-tio

n/re

searc

h pro

ject

calle

d A

ctin

g

Toget

her on

the

Wor

ld S

tage:

Per

-fo

rmanc

e and

the

Cre

ativ

e Tr

ans

for-

matio

n of

Con

flict

. Th

roug

h 14 c

ase

stu

die

s, a

rtists,

co

mm

unity

leader

s, a

nd p

eace

bui

ld-

ers

explo

red h

ow th

eatri

cal w

orks

and

ritu

als c

ontri

but

e to

pea

cebui

ld-

ing in

the

mid

st o

f vio

lent

con

flict

, in

th

e m

idst o

f stru

ctur

al v

iole

nce

and

op

pre

ssio

n, a

nd in

the

afte

rmath

of

gro

ss v

iola

tions

of h

uman

right

s.

Thes

e ex

am

ple

s are

dra

wn

from

ev

ery

cont

inen

t, in

clud

ing c

ase

stu

d-

ies

from

Pale

stin

e and

Isra

el.

In rev

iew

ing a

ll 14 o

f the

case

stud

ies,

as

wel

l as

inte

rvie

ws

with

arti

sts,

pea

cebui

lder

s, a

nd e

valu

a-

tors

, w

e id

entif

ied e

ight

less

ons

from

th

e pro

ject

.• Th

e arts

are

pow

erfu

l and

can

be

crafte

d to

con

tribut

e to

the

trans

-fo

rmatio

n of

vio

lent

con

flict

.• Pe

ace

bui

ldin

g p

erfo

rmanc

es

have

the

pot

entia

l to

suppor

t com

-m

uniti

es to

eng

age

with

pain

ful i

s-su

es a

nd to

navi

gate

am

ong a

ppar-

ently

con

flict

ing a

nd c

ontra

dic

tory

im

per

ativ

es.

• A

rt pro

ject

s in

zon

es o

f vio

lent

co

nflic

t have

the

pot

entia

l to

infli

ct

harm

; pre

caut

ions

mus

t be

take

n to

m

inim

ize

thes

e ris

ks.

• A

esth

etic

exc

elle

nce

and

soc

io-

pol

itica

l effe

ctiv

enes

s ne

ed n

ot b

e co

mpet

ing im

per

ativ

es; th

ey a

re

ofte

n m

utua

lly rei

nfor

cing

.• A

rtist-b

ase

d w

orks

, co

mm

u-ni

ty-b

ase

d w

orks

, and

col

lect

ive

expre

ssio

ns s

uch

as

ritua

ls, lu

llabie

s,

embro

ider

y patte

rns

etc.

, ca

n all

be

crafte

d to

make

sub

stant

ive

cont

ribu-

tions

to ju

stic

e and

pea

ce.

• Th

e fu

lly tr

ans

form

ativ

e pow

er o

f th

e arts

dep

ends

on res

pec

t for

the

inte

grit

y of

the

arti

stic

pro

ject

.• A

rts-b

ase

d p

eace

bui

ldin

g

pro

ject

s co

uld h

ave

gre

ate

r im

pact

on

soc

ietie

s in

con

flict

if m

ore

non-

arts

agen

cies

and

org

ani

zatio

ns

reco

gni

zed th

eir pea

cebui

ldin

g

pot

entia

l and

hel

ped

ext

end th

eir

reach

.• Pe

ace

bui

ldin

g p

erfo

rmanc

es

bea

r w

itnes

s to

the

hum

an

costs

of w

ar and

oppre

ssio

n and

to it

s gen

der

ed n

atu

re. Th

ey te

ll th

e stor

ies

of th

e ch

ildre

n, w

omen

, and

men

w

hose

live

s are

dim

inishe

d b

y th

e fe

ar and

hum

iliatio

n, th

e sh

am

e and

dislo

catio

n, th

at a

ccom

pany

vi

olen

ce.

In a

dditi

on to

a tw

o-vo

lum

e ant

holo

gy,

we

also

pro

duc

ed a

doc

umen

tary

and

a to

olki

t. Th

e doc

umen

tary

featu

res

exam

ple

s fro

m

Serb

ia, U

gand

a, A

rgen

tina, Pe

ru,

the

Uni

ted S

tate

s (N

ew O

rleans

), A

ustra

lia, and

Cam

bod

ia. Th

ey a

re

qui

te rel

evant

to th

e dyn

am

ics

of th

e Pa

lestin

ian-

Isra

eli c

onfli

ct, and

the

film

is n

ow a

vaila

ble

with

Ara

bic

and

Heb

rew

sub

title

s. I

enco

urage

reader

s of

The

Oliv

e Bra

nch

Teach

-er

’s G

uide

to ta

ke a

look

at t

he

doc

umen

tary

and

to ref

lect

on

thei

r ow

n w

ork

in li

ght

of i

ts e

xam

ple

s.Th

e doc

umen

tary

is a

ccom

pani

ed

by

a s

econ

d d

isc,

a to

olki

t of 1

8

shor

t vid

eos,

and

18 p

rint d

ocu-

men

ts.

Thes

e sh

ort v

ideo

s in

clud

e a

clip

featu

ring Im

an

Aou

n of

Ash

tar

Thea

tre, w

ho o

ffers

a h

isto

ry o

f th

eatre

in P

ale

stin

e and

des

crib

es

the

wor

k of

Ash

tar as

it us

es th

e te

chni

que

s of

Aug

usto

Boa

l, th

e cr

eato

r of

The

atre

of t

he O

ppre

ssed

, to

eng

age

peo

ple

thro

ugho

ut P

ale

s-tin

e. It

also

featu

res

thea

tre s

chol

ar

Lee

Perlm

an

des

crib

ing th

e w

ork

of

the

Ara

b H

ebre

w T

heatre

of J

affa

, w

hich

sta

ged

an

imagin

ed fu

ture

Tr

uth

and

Rec

onci

liatio

n C

omm

ittee

. Th

e to

olki

t’s p

rint d

ocum

ents in

clud

e gui

del

ines

for pla

nnin

g a

nd d

ocu-

men

ting p

eace

bui

ldin

g p

erfo

rm-

anc

es a

nd fo

r m

inim

izin

g th

e ris

ks o

f doi

ng h

arm

. It

is o

ur h

ope

that a

rtists

thro

ugho

ut th

e M

iddle

East a

nd

aro

und th

e w

orld

find

thes

e re

sour

c-es

use

ful i

n stre

ngth

enin

g th

eir w

ork.

A

ll to

o of

ten,

arti

sts

are

calle

d

upon

to p

rom

ote

thei

r w

ork,

to

com

pet

e w

ith e

ach

oth

er fo

r sc

arc

e fu

ndin

g. In

the

Peace

bui

ldin

g a

nd

the

Arts

Pro

gra

m I

dire

ct a

t Bra

ndei

s U

nive

rsity

, w

e w

ork

to c

reate

space

s w

here

arti

sts

and

pea

cebui

lder

s ca

n re

flect

on

thei

r w

ork,

exa

min

e bot

h its

suc

cess

es a

nd fa

ilure

s, a

nd

bui

ld rel

atio

nshi

ps

of b

oth

challe

nge

and

sup

por

t with

arti

sts

from

oth

er

regio

ns o

f the

wor

ld.

We

invi

te a

rtists

thro

ugho

ut th

e M

iddle

East to

join

a g

row

ing

inte

rnatio

nal a

rts a

nd p

eace

bui

ld-

ing m

ovem

ent b

y signi

ng u

p fo

r ou

r e-

new

slet

ter Pe

ace

bui

ldin

g a

nd th

e A

rts N

ow, at s

ys2.u

net.b

rand

eis.

edu/

bw

ebfo

rms/

view

/act

togno

tify.

Th

ere

you

can

read a

bou

t arti

sts

wor

king

for pea

ce a

roun

d th

e w

orld

, as

wel

l as

oppor

tuni

ties

for

train

ing a

nd o

ther

res

ourc

es.

I was

happy

to p

lay

a rol

e in

the

Seed

s of

Pea

ce 2

012 s

umm

er

cour

se, “E

xpre

ssiv

e A

rts; Ed

uca-

tiona

l Tra

nsfo

rmatio

ns.”

The

n, in

N

ovem

ber

2012, I e

njoy

ed th

e day

that I

spen

t at t

he S

t. A

ndre

ws

Gue

st

Hou

se in

Jeru

sale

m fo

r a w

orks

hop

with

Isra

eli a

nd P

ale

stin

ian

alu

mni

of

this c

ours

e and

of o

ther

See

ds

of P

eace

Educ

ato

r Pr

ogra

ms.

We

look

forw

ard

to le

arn

ing w

hat

new

pro

ject

s em

erge

from

thes

e in

itiativ

es. W

e w

ould

be

happy

to

featu

re y

our w

ork

and

you

r pro

ject

s in

futu

re e

diti

ons

of P

eace

bui

ldin

g

and

the

Arts

Now

!

Cyn

thia

dire

cts

the

pro

gra

m in

Pe

ace

bui

ldin

g a

nd th

e A

rts a

t Bra

n-dei

s U

nive

rsity

, w

here

she

teach

es

and

con

duc

ts a

ctio

n/re

searc

h pro

ject

s.

She

is c

o-cr

eato

r of

the

film

Act

-in

g T

oget

her on

the

Wor

ld S

tage:

Pe

rform

anc

e and

the

Cre

ativ

e Tr

ans

form

atio

n of

Con

flict

, and

co-

edito

r of

the

ant

holo

gy

of th

e sa

me

nam

e. In

the

1990s,

she

wor

ked a

s a c

oexi

sten

ce fa

cilit

ato

r at S

eeds

of

Peace

. ‘BABY MIRRORS’ BY ANNIE JACOBS