CAN THE ARTS SAVE HUMAN RIGHTS?
Human rights are under siege. Intersecting crises (populism, Covid-19, climate change, inequality and poverty, old and new conflicts) are challenging old ways of working and thinking. Art Rights Truth (ART) contends that collaborations between artists and activists can both represent and inform new ways of working and thinking, and thereby help create powerful new human rights languages, idioms and practices.
ART builds upon previous research led by the Centre for Applied Human Rights (CAHR) at the University of York, chiefly Arctivism and Development Alternatives.
So far the project has:
Worked in 11 countries with 24 artists/activists and collectives.
Supported artists and activists through 3 commissioning calls (Conversations in Kiosks, Conversations with Testimony and Conversations with Reports) and 3 residencies.
Through these collaborations, assisted the creation of artistic outputs including film (Future Collaboration, Young Voices), dialogical art (Rafooghar), dance and performance (Naturaleza en armonÃa), and exhibitions (Enlovini).
Collaborated with partners on further commissioning calls, specifically with CIVICUS on how to make a positive case for civil society, and Amnesty International on a report about the right to protest in Europe.
Hosted major events and exhibitions, such as Bodies on the Line in October 2023.
Disseminated the Artful Activism Toolkit.
Published blogs and articles, such as Recalibrating Listening: Of Trees as Subjects of Pain (Colombia) and How to Build a Culture of Human Rights in the Era of Populism (York, UK).
Research is focussed in five areas: Covid Legacies, Localising Human Rights in York, Imaginaries of Social and Environmental Justice, Reimagining Turtle Island / Canada, and Narratives of the Future in Colombia.
