Arts-focused Conflict Websites, Networks and more
Art Refuge
Art Refuge uses art and art therapy to support the mental health and well-being of people displaced due to conflict, persecution, poverty and climate emergency, in the UK and internationally.
Our ongoing programmes take place in the UK and France while we are involved in shorter term projects, exhibitions and research in other settings. We also deliver tailor-made arts-based training, crisis support and skills-sharing workshops in the UK, Europe, internationally and online, and we welcome requests.
Artists On The Frontline
A creative space and platform for radical artists working at the forefront of social and political change.
Whether through the latest digital technology, on the streets, or by inventing new prototypes, our work creatively responds to the multiple crises the world is facing.
Projects bring together agents of change who are challenging and rethinking the injustice systems we live in, finding ways to disrupt the status quo and contribute to large-scale systematic transformation.
The work is driven by local and international artists, communities, justice movements and change-makers, centring and celebrating those on the radical fringes, the outsiders, agitators and imposters.
Through exploring the intersection between arts, activism, politics and community organising, we are building a space where groundbreaking, revolutionary and censored conversations, ideas and stories can be told.
Artist Protection Fund
The Artist Protection Fund (APF) is an initiative of IIE, sponsored by the Mellon and Ford Foundations. The APF makes fellowship grants to threatened artists from any field of practice, and places them at host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures.
The Complete Freedom of Truth
The Complete Freedom of Truth (TCFT) is an international youth-led project with the ambition to develop global youth citizenship through culture and the arts. TCFT aims to use cultural and arts activities to provide skills training and cultural awareness for young people across Europe by developing their own creativity. Tolerance, inclusiveness, deeper learning and an understanding of the other are at the heart of this creative process. It seeks to foster understanding between people from different European countries, transcend language barriers and facilitate the space in which to create emancipatory change through the use of culture and the arts.
TCFT seeks to create a living connected community of young people from across Europe who are passionate about positive social change within their communities and Europe as a whole.
International Crisis Group
The International Crisis Group is an independent organisation working to prevent wars and shape policies that will build a more peaceful world.
Crisis Group sounds the alarm to prevent deadly conflict. We build support for the good governance and inclusive politics that enable societies to flourish. We engage directly with a range of conflict actors to seek and share information, and to encourage intelligent action for peace.
Our work is urgently needed as the world is confronted with both new and chronic existing conflicts, each of which has devastating humanitarian, social and economic costs. Efforts to resolve conflicts are complicated by the profound shift in geopolitics, as well as the increasing prominence of non-state actors ranging from religious militants to criminal gangs.
Crisis Watch - Interactive Map
www.crisisgroup.org/crisiswatch
CrisisWatch is a global conflict tracker, an early warning tool designed to help prevent deadly violence. It keeps decision-makers up-to-date with developments in over 70 conflicts and crises every month, identifying trends and alerting them to risks of escalation and opportunities to advance peace. In addition, CrisisWatch monitors over 50 situations (“standby monitoring”) to offer timely information if developments indicate a drift toward violence or instability. Entries dating back to 2003 provide easily searchable conflict histories.
HowlRound Theatre Commons - Conflict Portal
HowlRound is a free and open platform for theatremakers worldwide that amplifies progressive, disruptive ideas about the art form and facilitates connection between diverse practitioners.
The Peacebuilding, Conflict Transformation, and Conflict Zones area contains content created in conflict zones or in response to cultural, political, or social conflict.
Includes videos, podcasts, articles and more from conflict zones around the globe including Gaza, Iran and Ukraine
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Imagining Peace
Imagining Peace is a project to promote cultural initiatives in peacebuilding, initially funded by the Global Cultural Relations Programme (GCRP) - a flagship programme of the Cultural Relations Platform (an initiative funded by the EU) a partnership between the EU and the Goethe Institute, which brings together cultural practitioners and artists from around the world to engage in friendly conversations, share ideas, and collaborate.
In Place Of War
In Place Of War uses creativity in places of conflict as a tool for positive change.
A global organisation that uses artistic creativity in places impacted by conflict and climate change as a tool for positive change. We enable grassroots change-makers in music, theatre and across the arts to transform cultures of violence and suffering into hope, opportunity and freedom.
In Place of War works with a change-maker network of 130 creative organisations across 30 countries, all making lasting change in their communities.
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Museum of Peace
peacemuseum.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk
‘Peace’ is a seemingly simple concept. But how would you define it?
In this museum we have brought together lots of different ways of visualising peace. Our aim is not to promote any one particular vision. Instead, we want to spark more conversation about what peace ‘looks like’ to each of us, how it gets imagined and represented, where different kinds of peace can be found, how it can be promoted, and what peace-making and peace-keeping actually involve. We think that talking about different manifestations of peace is an important step in empowering everyone to play a part in fostering it, no matter who they are or where they come from.
shado
shado is a lived-experience led community of artists, activists and writers united in the fight for social justice and collective liberation.
We believe that those with lived experience of a topic or injustice are best placed to advocate for meaningful change within that space: shado is a platform for these people.
We also created shado because we didn't think there were enough platforms for different fields to work in collaboration towards social justice – so, with shado, we want to bring a network of people together to cultivate a culture-led system change.
Solidarity Knows No Borders
A growing grassroots community committed to building a world where all people live in safety, abundance, dignity and justice.
To build a better world, we must build our power as a progressive movement for social justice that does not leave anyone behind. We welcome groups, organisations, individuals who share in our commitment for dignity and justice. Explore our journey below and join us.
A list of Theatre Companies and networks working with or for artists affected by conflict.
acta
Bringing together people from different cultures, experiences, and generations to make and share creative work.
acta creates a place where everyone’s story matters, where individual opinions and experiences count, and are valued by others. We enable communities to share their stories, and engage audiences who rarely attend theatre.
Arts For Action
Arts for Action makes performances and artistic work, trains in the use of the arts and communication for change, and provides the development and cultural sectors with best practice in applied arts through projects and expert advice.
Arts for Action is a global network made up of practitioners from across the disciplines of theatre, contemporary dance, music, visual arts, photography, film, design, social research, activism, development, education and legal practice. Practitioners are leaders in their field and together deliver the very best arts and communication for social justice, positive change, activism and development. Arts for Action implements projects for good governance, justice, human rights, conflict resolution, sexual and reproductive rights, public and environmental health, and is dedicated to the most effective application of innovation in the arts to create change – at personal, social, and political levels.
Good Chance
With displaced artists centre stage, we create groundbreaking, heart-thumping theatre that brings people together and makes BIG change possible.
We work with displaced artists to write, create and produce groundbreaking theatre like The Jungle and The Walk with Amal; radical stories of hope and humanity that help us navigate the great challenge of living together now.
Impact
A diverse global organisation engaging arts and culture to transform conflict, and build more creative, inclusive societies.
We support those on the ground delivering impactful work through capacity building, making connections and sharing their practice and learning. We learn from existing knowledge to develop advocacy tools, explore cross-cutting issues and connect diverse thinkers from different disciplines to our network. We advocate by organising and attending events and platforms, producing and sharing useful resources, working with partners and networks, and reaching wide audiences.
International network for contemporary performing arts
We are one of the oldest and largest international cultural networks, representing the voice of over 500 member organisations and individual professionals working in the contemporary performing arts worldwide.
We advocate the value of the arts and culture and empower performing arts professionals through access to international connections, knowledge and a dynamic forum for exchange. We work to stimulate the quality, development and context of the contemporary performing arts, in all their diversity.
We create opportunities for our members and the international performing arts community at large by organising networking activities, peer-to-peer learning, exchanges and dialogues via various events.
We also commission publications and research, facilitate communication and distribution of information about the performing arts and advocate for the position of performing arts professionals, worldwide.
International Theatre Institute ITI
The purpose of the International Theatre Institute is to promote international exchange of knowledge and practice in theatre arts in order to consolidate peace and friendship between peoples, to deepen mutual understanding and increase creative co-operation between all people in the theatre arts.
Khayaal
We bring together artists and audiences of different faiths and secular affiliations to harness and mobilise the inclusive energy of shared story in order to connect hearts and foster greater intercultural and interfaith dialogue, understanding and engagement between Muslim communities and the wider world.
Over the past 26 years, Khayaal has developed a strong reputation as the first dedicated producer of professional English language theatre inspired by Muslim heritages and cultures. Khayaal is forging a new genre and brand of cross-cultural theatre whose formula of wisdom and humour has won it popular and critical acclaim nationally and internationally.
SH|FT
Safe Havens Freedom Talks (SH|FT) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection and promotion of artists at risk and artistic freedom.
SH|FT provides open platforms for human rights defenders in the arts globally. It develops meeting places for various organisations, groups, institutions (non-governmental and state), individuals and artists who defend the rights of the persecuted creatives and academics.
By stimulating mutual development through collective partnership and encouraging international collaboration, SH|FT aims to promote a better view of the field in total and share the knowledge on matters such as shelter city initiatives, international campaigns, funding opportunities and access to legal advice.
Theatre Without Borders - Network
Theatre Without Borders (TWB) was born out of the need to create a global, all-volunteer, grass-roots, virtual community that shares information and builds connections between individuals and institutions interested in international theatre and performance exchange. TWB has advocated for theatre artists at all levels of practice who see themselves as members of a global community, as well as citizens of their respective nations and cultures.
- Acting Together FULL DOCUMENTARY VIDEO - The Acting Together initiative documents how divided communities in more than a dozen conflict regions across the globe draw on the power of performance to transform conflict.
- Art can make people capable of acting again - An interview with Rana Yazaji is Co-Director of the CAS Arts and International Cooperation, about the challenging situation of artists in conflict zones, the role of international cooperation and the attempt to create equitable conditions.
- Changing The Story - Asking how the arts, heritage, and human rights education can support youth-centred approaches to civil society building in places that have experienced conflict across the world.
- Children and Genocide - Case Study - ACT’s objectives are: to make artists realize the power of their actions towards the environment; to offer simple and efficient tools to reduce the environmental footprint that shows and touring create; and to accompany artists wishing to become accredited in order to make their commitment recognized, and inspire their audience.
- Clowns Without Boarders - We support children in crisis settings to heal, learn and thrive through laughter and play.
- Conflict & the Creative Arts - The Conflict & the Creative Arts Research Centre works across artistic disciplines to investigate the relationship between culture and the multiple and diverse contexts of conflict - from armed conflict and identity politics to marginalised communities and violence and conflict around sexuality and gender.
- Drama for Conflict Transformation Toolkit - This toolkit is designed to introduce young people to an innovative theatre methodology that creatively examines and transforms conflict. After working through the exercises in this manual, youth will be equipped to lead community dialogue as agents of positive change.
- Everyday Ghandis - The purpose of the everyday gandhis project is to tell the stories of ordinary people creating peace in their communities, particularly in ‘hot spots’ around the world, utilizing media of all types (visual, written, spoken).
- Freemuse - an independent international non-governmental organisation advocating for freedom of artistic expression and cultural diversity. Freemuse has United Nations Special Consultative Status to the Economic and Social Council (UN-ECOSOC) and Consultative Status with UNESCO.
- Global Exchange - An international human rights organisation dedicated to promoting environmental, political and social justice.
- How Theatre and Performance Art Can Help Migrants and Refugees in Situations of Uncertainty - Essay
- Justice & Peace: Artists’ Safe Haven - Through the Artists’ Safe Haven initiative, we aim to contribute to the promotion of freedom of artistic expression globally, including the right to create art, admire it, critique it, challenge it, be provoked by and respond to it, free of governmental censorship, political interference or the pressures of non-state actors.
- Safemuse - Safemuse is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the fight for artistic freedom. We provide persecuted artists and artists at risk a safe place to stay and develop their art.
- Stand for Art - a program that supports artists and cultural actors in the Arab region currently facing risk that threatens their safety and security either because of their artistic output and cultural activities or because of their presence in an unsafe environment inside their countries or abroad.
- The Magdalena Project - An international network of women in contemporary theatre
- The Mosaic Rooms - A non-profit art gallery and bookshop dedicated to contemporary culture from the Arab world and beyond.
- Theater Conflict Zones VIDEO - videos on Theatre in Conflict Zones in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas produced by Colombian Centre of ITI
- Theatre in Conflict Zones, Seminar VIDEO - a series of online seminars (in English) involving artists and cultural operators involved in the field of theatre in conflict or post-conflict zones. The initiative, promoted by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) worldwide and the Italian Center of ITI, in collaboration with the "Theater in Conflict Zones" network and other national ITI centers, including Colombia, Sudan, Switzerland, Germany, Burkina Faso is part of the “Alchimie - Distillery De Giorgi in San Cesario di Lecce, an artistic community residence” project.
- War Plays from Kali Theatre - A season of seven staged readings of compelling new plays inspired by women’s experiences of global conflict spanning Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iraq, Tibet, Bangladesh and occupied France.