Bosque de los sueños
Bosque de los sueños seeks to promote democratic values, peace and justice through ARTivism, while simultaneously making visible the deterioration of human rights and creating historical memory in Latin America and the Caribbean. The project seeks to utilize art to foster empathy, solidarity and support for those who have been displaced from their home countires and strenghten citizen participation in social movements.
Authoritarianism is tightening its grasp and increasing its repression in countries like Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. This in turn causes displacement and migration of affected citizens into neighboring countries, as well as an impact on the economy, education, healthcare, and culture. In the past years, we found that people not actively participating in the defense of human rights are not aware of the sociopolitical crises in LATAM and the impact on continued and increasing migration nor the difficult situation the displaced immigrants/refugees experience. This lack of knowledge strengthens the hate narrative towards this vulnerable population and significantly reduces empathy, solidarity and support – elements which have been proven to be essential in quality of life and in the continued nonviolent struggle to restore human rights.
Historically, art has been used as a form of nonviolent protest and education since it connects with people regardless of their background, experience or participation in human rights defense. “Bosque de los sueños” aims to utilize ARTivism to visibilize the deterioration of human rights in Latin America and the Caribbean and its consequences, to promote a counter narrative to stop the spread of hate narratives, to promote empathy, solidarity and support for displaced immigrants/refugees in host countries. ARTivism will be our way of supporting the nonviolent struggle for human rights in Latin American and the Caribbean.
The whole project will convey a clear message to the general public about democratic/civic values, empathy and solidarity through various art forms to ensure greater impact within these communities by executing coordinated activities. The initiative is a set of children’s books that narrate the journey of several forest animals as they experience repression and human right violations in their home, the need to flee home, the need to assimilate to a new home, and the importance of collaborating with friends to bring change. Recurring themes will be nonviolent and creative action, collaboration, empathy, and human rights through the use of metaphors and child friendly images. The ultimate goal is to promote the aforementioned values, increase awareness and support for immigrants/refugees, and increase citizen participation in social movements. All the artists collaborating on this project will be in exile, seeking refuge and/or have experienced repression in their home countries. This serves two purposes: to support a vulnerable segment of our community through remunerated work and to help them exercise their freedom of expression and artistic voice in a way that strengthens their communities.
