This short film explores the impact of the conflict in southern Thailand on Malay Muslims, and their struggle to express their own identity and culture. It was produced by the Creating Safer Space project “UCP in Southern Thailand: Developing civilian protection guidelines for violence-prone communities”.
Author: webmaster
Short Film: Caring for community life
In Caring for Community Life, the Senú indigenous people of the Almendros 2 reservation in El Bagre, one of the municipalities hardest hit by armed violence in Colombia, tell how they have been organizing to resist armed groups and remain in their ancestral territories.
This short film was produced as part of the research project “The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia, an experience of unarmed civil protection with indigenous and peasant communities of Bajo Cauca”.
Series of Short Films: Let the rivers be for life!
The Creating Safer Space project “Water conflicts, violations and forms of self-protection” has produced a series of three short films about rivers, self-protection and community care.
These three films emerged from a research project that explored water conflicts around the rivers La Paloma (Argelia), Santo Domingo (San Francisco) and Dormilón (San Luis) in the Oriente region of the department of Antioquia, Colombia. Peasant communities and organizations in the region have a history of social mobilization against extractivist projects such as hydroelectric power plants, mining, and construction works in protected areas. These projects, often backed by armed actors, have changed the landscape and agricultural lifestyle of many municipalities. Community self-protection in these contexts includes cultivating social practices and relationships aimed at caring for water and life.
Reel: Let the rivers be for Life!
San Luis, Antioquia, Colombia: Rio Dormilón
Argelia, Antioquia, Colombia: Río Santo Domingo
Argelia, Antioquia, Colombia: Río La Paloma
Recording of Theatre Production: La Fiesta!
La Fiesta is a theatre play written by Óscar Manuel Zuluaga, and performed by Harlequin and the Jugglers.
It is inspired by the findings of the Creating Safer Space project “Art that protects: Contributions of artistic-cultural initiatives to the self-protection strategies of young people and women in the context of urban conflict in Medellín, 2022“, implemented by the Faculty of Nursing of the University of Antioquia and the Cultural Corporation for Development Arlequín y Los Juglares (Harlequin and the Jugglers).
La Fiesta is a story where hope beats death through joy. In it, the street becomes the stage and the stage becomes the street. It tells us how the inhabitants of the deprived neighbourhoods of Medellín have resisted with celebration the advance of a conflict that has torn the soul of a wounded city. Drums, chants, books, music, carnival, juggling, rap and hip hop become the art that protects, a community art whose main purpose is to serve as a platform for the inhabitants of the neighbourhood to express themselves, to denounce, to undergo catharsis, to resist. This art is the umbrella that protects civilians from violence.
Witnessed by 600 spectators at the renowned Pablo Tobón Uribe Theatre of Medellín on 17 May 2023, this magical piece transported the audience into a realm of wonder. Among them were members of artistic-cultural organizations from vulnerable urban areas, underscoring the transformative power of art in communities affected by urban violence.
More information about the theatre performance is available in Spanish and English.
Influencing the United Nations
The Creating Safer Space network hosted an exhibition in the United Nations Headquarters in New York in 2024, and took this opportunity to inform UN delegates, UN staff, and other interested stakeholders about Creating Safer Space research.
The exhibition was held at Delegates’ Entrance of the UN Headquarters from 29 April – 3 May 2024. The exhibition includes objects, images, and voices from Creating Safer Space research projects, and explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence.
Prof. Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Prof. Rachel Julian and Prof. Nerve Macaspac accompanied the exhibition, and informed UN delegates, UN staff, and other interested stakeholders about Creating Safer Space research. They shared the Creating Safer Space policy briefs on the potential role of Unarmed Civilian Protection in the Protection of Civilians (PoC) and other publications from Creating Safer Space projects.
Visitors described the exhibition as timely and important, and some raised personal reflections on the artwork. A member of a UN mission from a country in Africa remarked that the use of whistles as a method of early warning and early response, as illustrated by our exhibition material from Cameroon and South Sudan, was also used in their own country – and this practice had once saved their life.
An exhibition event was held on Tuesday 30 April for members of UN missions and other interested parties, with drinks, food and introductory speeches. Prof. Arlene Tickner, Ambassador of the Colombian Mission to the UN in New York, highlighted that, “[o]ne of the most fascinating things about this project, I think, is not only its work with communities affected by violence, but also the insistence on nonviolent mechanisms of protection and self protection to accompany civilians in contexts of violence and conflict”. Prof. Berit Bliesemann de Guevara highlighted how Creating Safer Space research across 11 countries has shown that we can find community-level unarmed civilian protection everywhere. Civilians are not just victims waiting to be saved by strangers – they are protectors in their own right – and these nonviolent protection strategies work in making people safer across a range of different violent contexts. There is a real opportunity for the UN and its member states to boost the protection of civilians by recognising and supporting the many civil society and community based protection activities that already exist across the world.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Permanent Mission of Colombia to the United Nations, for being our official sponsor, for all their help in making the week a success, and for enabling us to bring community voices from around the world to this global centre of power.
Community Self-Protection Makes Civilians Safer
No. 7 / 2024.
For policy-makers in the USA.
Policy Brief by the Creating Safer Space network, written by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Rachel Julian, and Nerve Macaspac.
Nonviolent Community Strategies Protect Civilians Across the World
No. 6 / 2024.
For policy-makers in the USA.
Policy Brief by the Creating Safer Space network, written by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Rachel Julian, and Nerve Macaspac.
Unarmed Civilian Protection in Post-Coup Myanmar
No. 5 / 2024.
For the UN and its member states.
Policy Brief by the Creating Safer Space network, written by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Rachel Julian, and Nerve Macaspac.
Community Unarmed Civilian Protection in South Sudan
No. 4 / 2024.
For the UN and its member states.
Policy Brief by the Creating Safer Space network, written by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Rachel Julian, and Nerve Macaspac.
The Missing Piece of PoC: Local Unarmed Civilian Protection
No. 3 / 2024.
For the UN and its member states.
Policy Brief by the Creating Safer Space network, written by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Rachel Julian, and Nerve Macaspac.
