The Creating Safer Space project Art that Protects: Networks as strategies for self-protection in the context of urban conflict in the city of Medellín, 2023 has released a series of short films and podcasts. Further background information is available at the bottom of this page in English and Spanish.

Art That Protects and Intersectionality 1: Category Cosmovision – Barrio Comparsa
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 1: Categoría Cosmovisión – Barrio Comparsa

Art That Protects and Intersectionality 2: Category Age – Robledo Venga Parchemos
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 2: Categoria Edad – Robledo Venga Parchemos

Art That Protects and Intersectionality 3: Category Socioeconomic Status – Biocomunidad
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 3: Categoria Estatus Socioeconómico – Biocomunidad

Art That Protects and Intersectionality 4: Category Ethnicity – Arlequín y los Juglares
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 4: Categoría Étnica – Arlequín y los juglares

Art That Protects and Intersectionality 5: Category Sex and Gender – Renovación Art Corporation
Arte que protege e interseccionalidad 5: Categoría Sexo y Género – Renovación Corporación Artística

Podcast, Chapter 1: Let’s Change the Toys, Let’s Change the Game
Podcast, Capitulo 1: Cambiemos los juguetes, cambiemos la vuelta

Podcast, Chapter 2: Stronger than War
Podcast, Capitulo 2: Más fuertes que la Guerra

Podcast, Chapter 3: Connections that Support
Podcast, Capitulo 3: Conexiones que sostienen

BACKGROUND (ENGLISH):

After conducting a comprehensive review of the literature on unarmed civil protection and self-protection in 2020, we realized that it was important to understand the contributions that art can make within this field of practice. Therefore, in the first phase of the Art that Protects project, we decided to document the self-protective role of art. To achieve this goal, we analyzed the self-protection strategies developed by grassroots artistic and cultural organizations for children, youth, and women living in neighborhoods of Medellín, where urban conflict has severely impacted these populations.

From the findings of this first phase, we understood that the vulnerabilities experienced by children, youth, and women are not uniform. They are influenced by age, gender, social and economic status, ethnicity, and other categories. Moreover, we identified that thanks to the networks and connections with other collectives, cultural organizations create spaces of self-protection in their neighborhoods. Consequently, the second phase of the research focused on these two aspects.

We created a series of audiovisual materials to disseminate the findings from this second phase. First, through a series of five videos, we analyzed how beliefs, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender can simultaneously act as sources of vulnerability and self-protection, using an intersectional perspective.

In collaboration with Luis Fernando García “El Gordo,” founder and director of Barrio Comparsa, we explored how artistic organizations create images and works rooted in their ethical principles and values, reflecting their members’ stories and responding to the demands of their context. Juan Marcos Díaz, director of Robledo Venga Parchemos, shared insights on how violence in urban conflict contexts affects children and youth differently. For this reason, artistic and cultural organizations offer alternatives that help resist the pressures of armed groups.

The founders of Biocomunidad, Nelson Berdugo and Giovany Caro, highlighted how economic precariousness and informal labor impact many cultural and artistic organizations in the city. Also, they emphasized that the social value of artists transcends their financial circumstances. Ludis Soto Cruz and Óscar Manuel Zuluaga, members of Arlequín y los Juglares, discussed how Afro-descendant and Indigenous populations on the outskirts of Medellín face inequalities due to their ethnic identities. However, these communities express their knowledge and perspectives through art, strengthening their dignity. Diana Torres, Iris Andrea Álvarez, and Ana Milena Nanclares, members of Renovación, demonstrated how everyday power dynamics perpetuate gender stereotypes. Cultural organizations foster spaces for resistance and empowerment, especially for women, through community and artistic participation.

Second, through three podcast episodes, we examined how art has served as a self-protection strategy over the last forty years and as a tool for networking. These networks have enabled grassroots artistic and cultural organizations to enter communities and engage with their residents. In the first episode, Luis Fernando García recounted the tools used by Barrio Comparsa to reclaim public spaces for the residents of Manrique in the 1980s. Members of Ziruma shared how their work has made them stronger than the conflict, using theater to narrate the life and memory of the neighborhood and its people. Finally, the members of Sueños de Papel explained how support networks allowed them to recognize and build upon the work of those who had previously established the neighborhood, connecting with community leaders.

BACKGROUND (SPANISH)

Después de hacer un balance amplio de bibliografía sobre protección civil no armada y autoprotección en el 2020, nos dimos cuenta de que dentro de este campo de práctica es poco lo que se ha estudiado sobre los aportes que puede hacer el arte. Por lo tanto, en una primera fase del proyecto Arte que Protege, decidimos documentar el papel autoprotector del arte. Para alcanzar dicho objetivo analizamos las estrategias de autoprotección desarrolladas por las organizaciones de base artísticas y culturales para niños, niñas, jóvenes y mujeres, que viven en barrios de Medellín donde el conflicto urbano ha estado activo.

A partir de los hallazgos de esa primera fase, nos dimos cuenta de que las vulneraciones perpetradas a niños, niñas, jóvenes y mujeres no se experimentan de la misma manera, sino que también obedecen a su edad, género, estatus social y económico, etnia y otras categorías. Además, entendimos que una de las razones por las cuales las organizaciones artísticas y culturales construyen espacios de autoprotección en sus barrios, es gracias a la red de alianzas y redes que establecen con otras organizaciones. En consecuencia, la segunda fase de la investigación se preocupó por estos dos temas.

Para dar a conocer los hallazgos encontrados en esta segunda fase decidimos desarrollar una serie de materiales audiovisuales. En primer lugar, a través de una serie de cinco vídeos analizamos desde la perspectiva interseccional la forma en la que las creencias, la edad, la etnia, el estatus socioeconómico y el género, pueden tener un carácter vulnerador y autoprotector. Con Luis Fernando García “El Gordo”, director fundador de Barrio Comparsa, vemos cómo las organizaciones artísticas crean imágenes y obras basadas en sus principios éticos y valores, reflejando las historias de sus miembros y respondiendo las demandas del contexto. Juan Marcos Díaz, director de Robledo Venga Parchemos, nos relata cómo la violencia en contextos de conflicto urbano afecta de manera diferente a niños, niñas y jóvenes. Por ello las organizaciones artísticas y culturales ofrecen alternativas que ayudan a resistir las presiones de los grupos armados.

Los fundadores de Biocomunidad, Nelson Berdugo y Giovany Caro, evidencian que la precariedad económica y la informalidad laboral afectan a muchas organizaciones culturales y artísticas en la ciudad, pero que la valoración social de los artistas va más allá de su situación económica. Ludis Soto Cruz y Óscar Manuel Zuluaga, integrantes de Arlequín y los Juglares hablan de cómo las poblaciones afrodescendientes e indígenas de las periferias de Medellín enfrentan desigualdades debido a su identidad étnica, pero las iniciativas artísticas les permiten expresar sus conocimientos y perspectivas, fortaleciendo su dignidad. Diana Torres, Iris Andrea Álvarez y Ana Milena Nanclares, integrantes de Renovación, demuestran que las dinámicas de poder cotidianas perpetúan estereotipos de género. No obstante, en las organizaciones culturales, las mujeres propician espacios de resistencia y empoderamiento en la participación comunitaria y artística.

En segundo lugar, a través de tres episodios de un podcast analizamos cómo en los últimos cuarenta años el arte ha servido como estrategia de autoprotección. Además, se analiza la forma en la que el trabajo en red le permitió a las organizaciones artísticas y culturales de base comunitaria entrar en los territorios y articularse con sus habitantes. En el primer episodio Luis Fernando García narra las herramientas que utilizó la organización que fundó, Barrio Comparsa, para recuperar la calle para los habitantes de Manrique en la década de 1980. Los integrantes de Ziruma evidencian que su trabajo los ha hecho más fuertes que la guerra. Ellos han utilizado el teatro para contar la vida y la memoria del barrio y sus habitantes. Por último, las integrantes de sueños de papel sostienen que las redes de apoyo les permitieron reconocer todo el trabajo que ya habían hecho quienes habían construido el barrio. Ellas se articularon con los líderes comunitarios.

A Spanish translation is available here

The exhibition “Let the Rivers Be for Life! Community Self-Protection and Care” represents a significant outcome of the research project “Water Conflicts, Violations, and Forms of Self-Protection: A Multi-Case Study in Eastern Antioquia, Colombia, Phase 2”. This unique exhibition delves into the strategies of self-protection employed by communities in response to conflicts impacting the Paloma, Dormilón, and Santo Domingo rivers, located in the municipalities of Argelia, San Luis, and San Francisco, respectively.

Through the collaborative arts of photography and embroidery, residents of these “hydrosocial” territories narrate the challenges they face. These include the arrival of small hydroelectric plants, mining activities, mass tourism, pressure from riverside real estate development, deforestation, and pollution. Yet, alongside these stories of struggle, they reveal how they have nonviolently protected themselves against these threats: through the weaving of community bonds, water stewardship, and a steadfast commitment to the peasant heritage of their lands.

The exhibition was showcased in October across the three municipalities involved in the study. This provided a space for the research team to share their findings with the communities who participated in the photography and embroidery exercises. Attendees underscored the essential role of water as the lifeblood of their territories. Although Eastern Antioquia has become a key hydroelectric resource for Colombia due to its abundant waterways, the communities pledged to continue their fight for a dignified life, enabling them to stay on their land and preserve their peasant traditions.

The Creating Safer Space Exhibition was hosted by the Institute of International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (IRI/PUC-Rio) between 12 and 23 August 2024. The exhibition was on display at the Department of Art and Design Hall.

Victória Monteiro da Silva Santos and Christian Cantuária from IRI/PUC-Rio report on the exhibition:

IRI/PUC-Rio hosted the exhibition as part of a series of activities that marked 10 years of its project Global South Unit for Mediation (GSUM), which was supported by two Brazilian research foundations (CAPES and FAPERJ). During the period, IRI also held several activities led by Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (Creating Safer Space Principal Investigator), Laura Jimenez (Creating Safer Space Research Assistant), Amaya Querejazu and Christine Andrä, many of which were associated with the exhibition itself.

The exhibition explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence, featuring experiences from Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand. More information about the exhibition is available here. In Rio, it was accompanied by descriptions in English and Portuguese.

The exhibition was officially launched on 14 August 2024, including an inaugural talk and an exhibition tour dedicated to IRI/PUC-Rio’s undergraduate students that are part of its Research Initiation Program. At the launch, Berit, Laura, and Amaya led various groups around parts of the exhibition, prompting reflections on the diversity of culturally-specific relations to nonviolence and peace.

A series of other guided tours and associated debates were also held with different undergraduate and post-graduate student cohorts in the exhibition space. On 15 August 2024, Berit and Christine welcomed IRI/PUC-Rio’s Graduate students from an International Security class. Three questions were offered as prompts for the group’s reflection: 1) What are conflict-affected communities’ vulnerabilities beyond physical violence, and what does that tell us about security perceptions? 2) Which forms or actors of protection caught your attention and why? Can you think of similar examples from Brazil? 3) What are the specific qualities of creative methods in studying security-related topics; what are their possibilities and limits?

Over about two and a half hours, the group explored the space and discussed various strategies of resistance, ambivalence, and the role of nonviolence in the context of armed conflicts and situations of extreme violence, reflecting on how the three questions could be tackled through the exhibited strategies and beyond. For instance, IRI’s professor Maira Siman and master’s student Eduarda Lopes inquired about the strategy of not wearing school uniforms by students in West Africa. This interest stemmed from the contrast with dangerous communities in Rio de Janeiro, where school uniforms can mean the difference between life and death during a police operation. Professor Berit explained that, in those conflicts in West Africa, school uniforms would allow for the tracking and personal identification of students, especially girls. Therefore, it was wiser not to be identifiable.

Another master’s student, Christian Cantuária, asked about the illustrations of men wearing blue helmets and whether they symbolized the UN “blue helmets” or peacekeepers. Given the distrust and scepticism of IR critical theory towards UN operations, Christian inquired whether those communities worked in partnership with international peacekeepers. Professors Amaya and Berit explained that the illustrations were created in the context of the Creating Safer Space project, and our other project colour, yellow, is the colour of the King in Thailand and could carry a different meaning for Thai society. Despite its association with the UN, they chose blue in that specific context to represent local peacebuilding efforts.

Moreover, on 22 August 2024, Berit and Laura worked with two groups of undergraduate students of the modules Methodology I and Methodology II, who were brought by the courses’ lecturer Victória Santos and their teaching assistants Luisa Mercedes, Eduarda Lopes, and Raíssa Caliano. The students were invited to identify the various research methods that could be identified in the exhibition, notably those that are creative or arts-based (such as participatory drawings, textile-making, the production of podcasts, and others) but also traditional ones, such as interviews. They reflected on how these various methods could be situated within different stages of the research, from project design, to the data generation and analysis, to the dissemination and impact stages, with different implications.

As students from both courses will be developing research over the course of the semester in collaboration with civil society activists in the field of Climate Justice, leading to the production of an encyclopaedia and a podcast season, this was an opportunity for students to reflect on the possibilities entailed by producing scientific knowledge that aims for impact in a way that does not isolate the university from society; and also to consider the possibilities posed by other forms of results dissemination beyond written articles and reports. Moreover, especially in the case of Methodology II students, the group discussed the politics of knowledge production in these kinds of projects, with an attention to how equitable relations can be maintained in North-South research collaborations.

Another guided visit was led on 19 August 2024 by IRI’s lecturer Luisa Lobato, who took her undergraduate students from the Security and International Relations course to the exhibition. Professor Luisa requested the students to study and reflect on the exhibition. Then, based on the image that captured their attention the most, each student had to answer three questions: 1) What conceptions of security does the selected work present, and in what way? 2) What ideas of threat, implicitly or explicitly, can be identified in the work? 3) How does the artist communicate these ideas of security and threat?

Overall, the exhibition was a rich opportunity not only for International Relations students but also for visitors from various other disciplines and fields, who were continuously prompted to reflect on the possibilities of nonviolent action and the resonances with Brazilian contexts marked not only by various forms of violence but by a wealth of resistance practices.

The Creating Safer Space Exhibition was on show at the Carlos Gaviria Díaz Library of the University of Antioquia, Colombia, from 4 June – 30 July 2024. The exhibition was part of the Creating Safer Space regional workshop for Latin America, hosted by the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Antioquia.

To introduce the exhibition, we conducted three guided tours and a forum with the Corporación Jurídica Libertad (CJL). During the tours, we talked about unarmed civilian protection, community self-protection, and the role that art and non-violence play in these practices. In the forum with CJL, we discussed their research: The Social Process of Guarantees of Antioquia, Colombia, an experience of unarmed civil protection with indigenous and peasant communities of Bajo Cauca (a short film clip from CJL is available here).

Approximately fifty people participated in the tours and the forum, including twenty children from a school in Medellin who were visiting the University of Antioquia, students, and representatives of organizations such as the UNHCR and the Corporación Arlequín y los Juglares.

These were the reflections of some of the attendees:

“We are not only violated by the presence of armed actors, whether legal or illegal, but also by economies that do not care about our territories and those of us who inhabit them. To protect civilians, we must also change the conditions in which the communities live.” (Zenú indigenous woman from Antioquia)

“The creation of safer spaces does not depend on the state or the government, it depends on all of us.” (Nursing student, University of Antioquia)

“To protect yourself or others, you don’t need weapons.” (Nursing student, University of Antioquia)

“The exhibition moved me and somehow took me back in time. As I saw in the exhibition, Colombia has not been unrelated to wars and violence. I grew up in the Santo Domingo Savio, a neighborhood in Medellin, between 1990 and 2000, a time marked by violence. Although I was four years old, I clearly remember the shootings that took place. My parents could only leave the house to work or buy food. I still remember several dead bodies lying on the street, face up and bloodied. Perhaps I did not live through conflicts of the magnitude of some of the countries in the exhibition. However, it is challenging to remember these experiences and acknowledge that many lives have been profoundly affected by war”. (Nursing student, University of Antioquia)

The travelling exhibition, which has also been on show in Nairobi (Kenya), Bangkok (Thailand), Aberystwyth (Wales) and New York (USA) explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence. The objects, images, and voices originate from a selection of 26 research projects funded by the Creating Safer Space network, which have been conducted in collaboration between academics, self-protecting communities and nonviolent civilian accompaniers. The exhibition draws on experiences from Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand, where civilians are harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces and work towards alternative presents and futures. The exhibition is available online here.

The Creating Safer Space exhibition was on show at the Delegates’ Entrance of the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 29 April – 3 May 2024.

The travelling exhibition, which has also been on show in Nairobi (Kenya), Bangkok (Thailand) and Aberystwyth (Wales) explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence. The objects, images, and voices originate from a selection of 26 research projects funded by the Creating Safer Space network, which have been conducted in collaboration between academics, self-protecting communities and nonviolent civilian accompaniers. The exhibition draws on experiences from Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand, where civilians are harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces and work towards alternative presents and futures.

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.

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.

The Creating Safer Space network has shown a series of films as part of the WOW Wales One World Film Festival in March 2024.

The WOW Film Festival is the only UK festival dedicated principally to films from Africa, Asia & Latin America, and this is its 23rd year of bringing international films to cinemas across Wales.

In March 2024 the WOW Film Festival included 9 short films that have been produced as part of Creating Safer Space research projects in Colombia, Nigeria and Palestine. The films were shown in Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales, and online via the WOW Film Festival website.

FILMS

La Fiesta is a theatre production performed by Harlequin and the Jugglers. It underscores the transformative power of art in communities affected by urban violence.

Let the rivers be for life! explores water conflicts around the rivers La Paloma (Argelia), Santo Domingo (San Francisco) and Dormilón (San Luis) in Colombia.

Survive among violence. Stories of the Nasa people in Colombia follows Ana Deida, a Nasa woman leader from Resguardo de Huellas Caloto, to understand the risks faced by the Nasa community and their historical resistance processes.

Minga explores the history and meaning of a community-based socio-cultural and political practice known as Minga, an indigenous form of protest and resistance.

Civil protection to stay on our land documents the experience of Palestinian farmers and shepherds with civil protection in the South Hebron Hills.

Caring for community life tells the story of how the Senú indigenous people in Colombia have been organizing to resist armed groups and to remain in their ancestral territories.

Inter-regional learning on UCP in Nigeria captures insights from an intergenerational and collective impact model adopted by the Jos Stakeholder’s Centre for Peace to reduce violence in the context of communal conflict.

Some of these films are already available on our website (see links above), and the others will be soon.

DISCUSSION

The WOW Film Festival also hosted two panel discussions to explore the meaning of the films, and the recordings are available online:

Water Conflicts, with Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (PI of the Creating Safer Space network), aim king (director of the film nodens), Sarah Reisz (activist and environmental campaigner), David Gillam (founder and artistic director of the WOW Film Festival), and Marwan Darweish (PI of the project that created the film Civil protection to stay on our land).

Stories of Unarmed Civilian Protection with Dr Marwan Darweish (PI of the project that created the film Civil protection to stay on our land), Dr Piergiuseppe Parisi (PI of the project that created the film Survive among violence), Prof. Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (PI of the Creating Safer Space network) and Mr David Gillam (founder and artistic director of the WOW Film Festival).

The Creating Safer Space project ‘Exploring unarmed civilian self-protection in Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict’ has published a booklet with poetry and drawings, entitled: “Ji se a-nta-av” Resilient Voices: An anthology of poems on community unarmed protection from a war zone, edited by Mutia Brendaline. The poems and drawings are all written and drawn by civilians living amidst the current conflict in the English-speaking North West and South West regions of Cameroon. An introduction is provided by Prof. Gordon Crawford, the Principal Investigator of the project, who highlights how “[t]he poems’ authors (anonymous to protect their security) outline their experiences, hardships and traumas, as well as their courage, resilience and agency in protecting themselves and others against violence.”

The Creating Safer Space Exhibition was on show in Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Wales from 11 – 28 March.

The travelling exhibition, which has also been on show in Nairobi (Kenya), Bangkok (Thailand) and New York (USA) explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence. The objects, images, and voices originate from a selection of 26 research projects funded by the Creating Safer Space network, which have been conducted in collaboration between academics, self-protecting communities and nonviolent civilian accompaniers. The exhibition draws on experiences from Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand, where civilians are harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces and work towards alternative presents and futures.

EXHIBITION TOURS

Two students from the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth University worked as Exhibition Tour Guides. Emily Pomeroy is a first year PhD student, and Konstantinos Kolokotronis is a Master’s student. They provided tours to groups of university students and members of the public. A diverse range of visitors viewed the exhibition, and were moved by the stories and the artwork. Most heard about unarmed civilian protection for the first time.

SPECIAL EXHIBITION EVENT

A special exhibition event, attended by approximately 80 people, was held on the evening of Friday 22 March, with wine, food and live music. In her opening remarks, Angela Hatton, Aberystwyth University Pro Vice-Chancellor of Research, Knowledge Exchange and Innovation, discussed the importance of the Creating Safer Space network in the context of the increasing need for civilian protection around the world. Patrick Finney, the Head of Department of International Politics, highlighted the Creating Safer Space network’s difficult journey (born during Covid and affected by subsequent funding instability) and the pleasure in now seeing the network’s achievements as part of the exhibition and its contributions to the WOW Film Festival.

The Creating Safer Space Exhibition was on show at the Social Innovation Hub at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, from 20 February – 5 March 2024. The exhibition was part of the Creating Safer Space final regional research forum for South-East Asia, hosted by the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University.

The travelling exhibition, which has also been on show in Nairobi (Kenya), Aberystwyth (Wales) and New York (USA) explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence. The objects, images, and voices originate from a selection of 26 research projects funded by the Creating Safer Space network, which have been conducted in collaboration between academics, self-protecting communities and nonviolent civilian accompaniers. The exhibition draws on experiences from Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand, where civilians are harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces and work towards alternative presents and futures.

The Creating Safer Space Exhibition was on show at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, from 24 – 26 January 2024. The exhibition was part of the Creating Safer Space final regional conference for Africa and the Middle East, hosted by Strathmore University Business School.

The travelling exhibition, which has also been on show in Nairobi (Kenya), Aberystwyth (Wales) and New York (USA) explores the unexpected power of nonviolence in the protection of civilians living in the midst of violence. The objects, images, and voices originate from a selection of 26 research projects funded by the Creating Safer Space network, which have been conducted in collaboration between academics, self-protecting communities and nonviolent civilian accompaniers. The exhibition draws on experiences from Cameroon, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, the Philippines, South Sudan, and Thailand, where civilians are harnessing the power of nonviolence to create safer spaces and work towards alternative presents and futures.