Visual Voices- Building Peace Narratives

I am a Cypriot peacebuilder passionate about inventing creative ways to challenge the existing conflict narratives in a country that remains physically divided due to the lasting effects of violent intercommunal conflict. I believe in civil society, the power of community action, and creating space for reflection and expression that contributes to peace supporting narratives.

In 2018, I co-founded and now co-direct an internationally focused non-profit organization called Visual Voices. Our mission is to strengthen the capacity of young artists from communities affected by violent conflict, while building non-commercial platforms of expression for them to share their voice and advocate for peace through contemporary visual art.

After working in the digital media industry for many years, I returned to Cyprus and transitioned into community peacebuilding as the (now former) director of the ‘Home for Cooperation’. Together with my team, we built this into the leading peacebuilding initiative in Cyprus.

The Visual Voices Artist-in-Residence Program is committed to peacebuilding in communities affected by violent conflict by strengthening peace supporting narratives through artistic expression. Violent conflict is a global issue and peacebuilding is an important solution that is relevant before, during and after conflict to make communities more resilient. This is especially important in areas that have recently been affected by conflict and continue to be influenced by social narratives that promote continued violence whether that be direct, structural, or cultural.

The proposed project is to bring peace education to young artists that are interested in using their skills for positive social change. This allows artists to consider their work from a peacebuilding perspective and to initiate community dialogue around key social challenges.

This project elevates humanity by creating space for community expression that is designed to consider multiple social perspectives and to give voice to marginalized groups.

The problem we are trying to solve is best described as the "continuation and promotion of conflict narratives in communities affected by violent conflict". Finding solutions to this problem is crucial in addressing the larger issue of violent conflict and the social divisions that perpetuate this phenomenon currently exacerbated by nationalist movements. 

On a local scale, every member of Cypriot society is affected by this problem. Conflict narratives associated with the ongoing conflict are promoted in basic education, media, politics, family, etc. Globally, there are few nations that do not have a history of violent conflict or social division. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, there are currently 26 worsening or unchanging conflicts. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program shows 78 cases of state-based violence and 52 cases of non-state violence in 2018. This translates both to the existence of post-conflict societies and the likelihood of many more to come. Addressing conflict narratives in each of these cases is an important step in the development of positive peace globally. Our project aims to bring in diverse, local voices that not only understand the context but also have pre-existing skills that maximize their potential as 'leaders' for positive social change.

We bring together artists from communities affected by violent conflict that are interested in using their skills to promote understanding, cooperation and positive change that considers multiple social perspectives and positive solutions to local challenges. 

We engage them with a custom peace education curriculum that emphasizes the role of artists in community peacebuilding. They build practical skills focused on applied cultural management and receive mentoring from professional artists, empowering them to continue their work beyond our programs. We provide support for young artists that can't be found anywhere else. In return, they bring diversity of opinion, participation in social processes and community mobilization. 

This practical support is complemented by the creation of non-commercial platforms of expression that highlight the artworks of young artist activists working to strengthen positive peace in their communities and globally. This includes traditional exhibitions, web exhibitions and the development of innovative platforms that utilize AR/VR technologies.

The project is also about building a community. We have built a network of over 60 like minded organizations and practitioners in Europe, USA, the greater MENA region, Asia and Southern Africa. Through these collaborations, our artist in residence program challenges conflict narratives on a global scale.

Our primary audience is young visual artists from communities affected by violent conflict. Our secondary audience is the global public, which directly includes but is not limited to the communities of the primary target group.

To understand the needs of both target groups we are actively connecting with international organizations, artists and practitioners. First by building a team of experienced technical advisors in relevant fields, helping to maximize a multi-disciplinary understanding of the project. Additional insight comes from our international network of partners that highlights specific context and localized needs.

Peace education, often ignored in formal education, helps our target groups develop new social perspectives. Young artists also gain cultural management skills. Together these serve as a foundation for continued social action that is supported by Visual Voices creating space for them to share their voice, a critical element when considering marginalized groups. Needs of the secondary audience are met through this artistic expression, which becomes a form of 'peace education' in itself that helps initiate community dialogue responding to challenges resulting from violent conflict. 

In short, interaction between social art and the public builds awareness. Positive artistic expression supports democratic systems and social cohesion, via the advancement of dialogue.

Visual Voices approach is special because it instantly sparks an interest. It's about saying NO(!) to violent conflict in a way that engages people in both personal and collective reflection. The problem is far-reaching but the ‘peacebuilding community’ interested in taking on this challenge spans the globe. This project has the power to start a movement from the grassroots level. Through art and personal expression, we can elevate 'understanding of and between people through changing people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors'. In achieving this we can give opportunities to unheard voices and stand up to difficult global challenges.

Visual Voices came from a passion for community, art and peacebuilding. It started with just myself and my co-director strategizing how we could create an impactful, versatile methodology that can bring people together locally, regionally and internationally. We wanted something that starts with an individual but directly speaks to their community while maintaining universal relevance. We wanted to bring people together from around the world, learn from each other and start building strong relationships. 

Throughout this process we identified multiple gaps in the traditional arts-based peacebuilding practice. Key takeaways include the need to focus on artists as beneficiaries capable of continued actions and visual arts as ‘tangible outputs’ that continue to have impact beyond project cycles. 

In July 2108, the project was formalized as a non-profit organization and we started building a network. A key element has always been continued research and incorporation of feedback. Within two years we built a network of over 60 organizations, a team of 25 highly-skilled professionals, local community collaborations, developed our curriculum and implemented our core methodology. This network spans 29 countries around the world and we see this as just the beginning. Every day we seek new partnerships and opportunities to develop projects.

I'm passionate about this project because I come from a community affected by violent conflict and I am faced with this problem every day. Cyprus has been divided since 1974 and there are militarized zones just blocks away from my house. My family was displaced and lost everything. But what upsets me the most is that things aren't getting better, conflicts aren't getting resolved. I see how this has everything to do with 'conflict narratives' (or the perpetuation of stereotypes/ hatred/ mistrust) because I have experienced this firsthand. These narratives control public perception and hinder conflict resolution. 

Through my professional experience, I have created many opportunities for inter-communal exchange. As academic insights (like Contact Theory) suggest, this can have significant impact. Art and culture are a powerful way of achieving this because it relies on pre-existing interests (people already like art!) and exchange (art is a medium of nonverbal communication that shares stories/ emotions/ etc.) 

What I want people to understand is that we can make tremendous change just by contributing to 'peace supporting narratives'. We can create opportunities for greater understanding, cooperation and appreciation. This is what Visual Voices aims to do.

I am fully committed to this project and will not give up.

My background has been greatly affected by growing up in the context of violent conflict. Even now, I am considered a refugee in my own country. This experience has only strengthened my belief in and hope for the advancement of positive peace around the world.

I also have a strong track record of developing and implementing large scale projects in multiple sectors. I hold a MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology and a BSc in Operational Research/Management Sciences from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, UK. After graduating, I worked for one of the largest global media groups as a department head. This strengthened my skills in project development, operations, negotiation and problem solving, relationship building, simultaneously managing multiple projects, optimization of results and M&E. 

Focusing more on my personal interests, I transitioned those skills into working with civil society. For five years I was the director of the Home for Cooperation in the UN Buffer zone, where I helped transform it into the leading community peacebuilding organization in Cyprus. 

This combined experience led to Visual Voices, the building of our network and our commitment to making positive social change around the world. I have the efficiency of the private sector and the sincere intention of civil society. I understand that making this change is not just about my actions, it is about bringing people together through empowerment, common interests and mutual benefit.

Peacebuilding work is difficult. Even though it often comes from the community level it is also inherently political, with social boundaries that aren't necessarily clear or rational. These challenges pose problems for projects like Visual Voices.

One challenge for the peacebuilding movement in Cyprus, is the failure to embrace all communities on the island which effectively increases marginalization. In our first project, we aimed to directly engage them. Risking negative reactions, it was decided that Visual Voices would push the social boundaries built over the past 46 years and actively seek the participation of such marginalized communities. This is something we will continue to do.

Another challenge is the media. We were recently told that one of the main media producers could not cover our project, despite being an entirely positive situation, because of participation by marginalized communities. For us this is a big challenge because it censors the positive while the perpetuation of stereotypes remains strong. We also saw how openly challenging them risked putting our participants in a difficult situation. Instead, we found other media outlets to cover the project and are developing international media contacts.  Our new residency focuses on 'media and perpetuation of nationalist narratives'.

I am a creative idea person and a strategic implementer.

My most relevant leadership experience is directing the Home for Cooperation (Cyprus). It has always been a special place due to its location in the UN buffer zone but I brought my own energy and made it something more. I brought it to life. This transformation was about bringing people together and I was tasked to make it happen. I introduced a new character to the space, attention to detail, love and care. It became a place to go for fun, to learn, to share.

This was my greatest contribution, introducing activities that engaged pre-existing interests. We started reaching out to musicians, artists, and cultural instructors. The space started drawing people in from all communities for workshops, festivals, concerts and more. I started the award winning Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival that is now in its sixth year. This not only brought in the general public but created connections in the various international cultural sectors, the diplomatic core, international media, etc.. Our peacebuilding community grew much stronger. Although creative, this was a  strategy from the very beginning. 

This experience opened my eyes to the power of arts in peacebuilding.

N/A

Our project is innovative because, from the very beginning, we sought to address gaps in the field of arts-based peacebuilding. We sought multidisciplinary advice and considered critical feedback. Finally, we are constantly finding new ways to support the same core mission whether that be through emerging technologies or relevant approaches already developed in other fields.

Arts-based peacebuilding is a broad field with recognized value but remains underutilized. The Visual Voices methodology addresses many of the identified challenges within the field, including: 1) shifting from ‘community art’ (individual impact) to art-based peace advocacy (community impact) 2) incorporating research opportunities of community impact to strengthen future initiatives 3) focusing on sustainable actions (i.e. participant empowerment for continued action & visual art as ‘tangible outcomes’ that can continue to have impact) and 4) new methodology focused on a specific target group (artist in residency + peace education is unique opportunity for young artists affected by violent conflict). We are addressing these key gaps by filling a very niche position while connecting like minded organizations, practitioners and key stakeholders. This means better cross-sectoral understanding for more innovative future collaborations.

One example of an innovative and complementary action is the Visual Voices Augmented Reality Application. This will allow any user to learn about selected peace advocacy artworks and then drag the artworks into their own environment (ie in camera view) as ‘digital graffiti’. This innovative app informs, promotes reflection, disseminates peace advocacy messages and tells new stories through the production of user generated materials.

Our theory of change is built on the foundation that by creating space for young artists to support peace advocacy, we can ultimately stimulate community and social dialogue aiming to address challenges resulting from violent conflict. We see our theory of change as reaching activists/ communities/ and duty bearers, whose different paths all lead to greater community dialogue around social issues. Here we outline our theory of change that explains how we get from our activities to our long term goals.

Core activities focus on 1) context specific artist residencies with conversations including peace education 2) public engagement activities (i.e. exhibitions, presentations, publications, etc.) 3) linking artists with art-based community initiatives, and 4) building local networks that can be integrated into a global network of arts-based peacebuilders.

The outputs from this can be summarized as 1) socially engaged artists and art works that seek to  address community challenges, and 2) space for the artworks and the ideas they represent to be shared. For example, the residencies and arts-based community initiatives will result in artistic expression. The public activities and network are ways that these artworks can be shared and promoted.

The short term outcomes revolve around the new perspectives and understandings that have been created as a result of the activities and outcomes. The short term outcomes include artists that are more aware of the power of their art and communities who are more aware of different perspectives (especially positive peace supporting ones). This means both the expression of and reflection on these perspectives for positive social change. On a smaller scale, the short term outcome also includes dialogue (interpersonal).

Long term outcomes focus around larger scale community-wide dialogue promoting positive social change, influencing policy through greater social consciousness, and global collaboration between participating international artists.

Another way of considering it would be: empowering young artists -> creation of artworks supporting peace narratives -> dissemination activities -> audience (i.e. community) engages with artworks -> community dialogue around key social challenges -> community more aware of challenges and potential solutions -> artists more capable of continued action -> positive social change.

Our structure is designed to reach each target group on a different scale. Working directly with young visual artists and indirectly with communities through the project outputs. 

We currently serve 35 young visual artists from communities affected by violent conflict and approximately 1,000 community members who have engaged directly with our activities. In our first two residency programs we worked closely with 15 young artists and have also developed relationships with 20 internationally based artists who we have sought to support through inclusion in our campaigns and project proposals. Through our public events (exhibitions, conferences, film screenings, etc.) and media outreach (videos, campaigns, interviews, etc.) we have reached a minimum of 35,000 individuals.

In one year, we will be serving 55 young visual artists from communities affected by violent conflict (25 from our residencies and 30 from our network) and approximately 5,000 community members who have directly engaged with our activities. Support for internationally based artists who are unable to travel due to violent conflict will be strengthened by our AR Application that helps disseminate their works and messages to a larger audience. Our media outreach will reach a minimum of 100,000 people. 

In five years, we will be serving over 125 young artists and reaching 150,000+ community members. This is based on the fact that we will continue to expand our residency programs internationally with collaborating partners, continue with international exhibitions/public events/ activities and a strong online presence connected to our program outputs.

Our impact goals for the next five years include: to give young artists the tools and momentum to elevate the global peace movement through their artistic expression, to create strong network of allies (organizations/ practitioners/ artists), to create space for new positive perspectives to be shared, to have participating artists develop community actions beyond our project scope, and to start seeing network members collaborate regionally and/ or internationally. In short, we want to have an impact on artists, have those artists impact their communities and then go a step beyond to collaborate with each other globally. Our impact goal within the first year is to strengthen the organizational structures to allow for this longer term impact.

We plan to achieve this with our individual artist participants through our unique methodology that creates a safe space for them to express through art for positive social change and for their voice to be heard globally. Additionally, for them to gain experience in creating space (for themselves and for others) in the future. On the community level we plan to achieve this by contributing to an environment of dialogue, reflection and respect. 

Together, the overall goal is achieved by engaging communities through artistic expression that is about the community but also developed from within the community. Globally our impact goal is to connect these artists and ultimately these communities.

Our principal barriers to achieving our goals are classified as financial, legal and cultural. These are relevant in both the short and long term.

Achieving our goal requires a certain level of financial capacity and stability, which our model aims to achieve through project-based grants. The barriers associated with this include a highly competitive market for the available funds. This becomes even more competitive for younger organizations that are limited, many times, by the need for a minimum two years audited financial records and proof of budget management capacity. On top of that, the team is working largely on a volunteer basis as the organization gets started. Financial insecurity poses a barrier to the uninterrupted and sustainable running of activities.

Our goal also faces some legal barriers to success as it aims to have an international scale of implementation. Visual Voices is currently only registered in Cyprus making it difficult to apply for grants outside of the country and/or region. Limited legal consultation is a barrier to understanding our capacity to function internationally and to develop legally binding agreements with international collaborators.

Culturally the main barrier to achieving the goal is the awareness that the project must be considerate to each local context and conditions. Implementation cannot be rushed or simply ‘copied’ from other project experience. Special considerations must be made to ensure ethical and sustainable implementation. In short, it is of vital importance that we follow a ‘Do No Harm’ approach.

Addressing the financial barriers, we have a full time staff member dedicated to grant writing and proposal development. We have submitted over 45 grant and fellowship applications, achieving a 39% success rate (excluding pending responses). We are very proud considering how new the organization is. We have also taken on small grants and collaborations that have ultimately led to a medium sized grant. This is a significant element of our strategy to demonstrate our capacity both professionally and financially. Our resources include our team of professionals and our network of organizations. This has been essential to finding opportunities, being included as a collaborating partner, and strengthening our portfolio.

Legally and culturally, we're developing a network of international partners interested to collaborate. This helps address our legal barrier by allowing us to jointly conduct the program in partnership with organizations legally registered in the country of implementation. In addition to this, our network is also our main resource in addressing the barriers of cultural and context awareness. All of our international projects start by discussing the local relevance, social value and challenges of implementing our program. This helps us as an organization determine if it is appropriate for us to continue and if there are any special considerations to be made. In addition to our network, our team is also an important resource in considering cultural challenges. Their experience in regions around the globe either has the potential to provide valuable insights themselves or to connect us with relevant experts.

As an organization we have been working very hard to develop partnerships with other organizations in the arts and/ or peacebuilding field. Currently we are connected with over 60 organisations, but are most closely working with PeacePlayers Cyprus, the JP Foundation (Iraq), Heart of Peace Hiroshima (Japan), the Kyoto Arts Center (Japan), Civic Space (Cyprus), Allianz Kulturstiftung (Germany), Goethe-Institut Cyprus, the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies RIFFS (Jordan), Systema Cyprus, Association for Historical Dialogue and Research (Cyprus), Cultures of Resistance Foundation, Unity Through Creativity Foundation (USA), Catalyst Arts (Northern Ireland), Freemuse (Denmark) and UNFICYP.

We are working with these organizations in a range of different capacities. This includes collaboration for project implementation, providing mutually beneficial support for activities, and the development of project proposals for future collaborations. An example of collaborating for project implementation is with PeacePLayers Cyprus on a project called “Color the Court”, to reinvigorate community spaces through art. In this case those spaces are basketball courts on both sides of divided Cyprus. We facilitate peace education workshops in public schools and connect local artists to community actions. An example of receiving support from other organizations is through our collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Cyprus who has been supporting our programs in different ways, including the use of their exhibition space. An example of developing project proposals is with RIIFS, for a regional artist residency program in Cyprus, Jordan and Lebanon.

The project will continue connecting with organizations globally to explore possibilities for future collaboration.

Our business model intends to serve ‘communities affected by violent conflict’ as the broad beneficiary. This is, of course, multi-dimensional and more specifically incorporates the following groups for a more holistic approach: artists, art community, general community, activists, universities and civil society organizations. This beneficiary is specific in practice but also broad in the sense that such groups exist in all corners of the globe and, very unfortunately, continue to grow. We want to be there to support them and create opportunities for them to share with each other.

Our methodology has been specifically tailored to the beneficiaries, in ways that we believe are valuable to them. As we also recognize the significant learning opportunities made available through our own continued experience, we also understand that our approach must be flexible and adapt to the specific needs of a specific context.

We offer our beneficiaries with workshops that build professional skills for the artists, help the local art community bring in funding/ services/ ideas, and disseminate their works. We provide these through grant funding and implementing the projects in collaboration with local partners.

The communities we work with want, and value, the programs and services we provide because we are supporting local organizations and artists. Although our aim is to always support our collaborators with funding, the value goes beyond this. We are also working to ensure that our actions complement those already taking place and to bring our global collaborators together for continued actions.

Our path to financial success depends on multiple steps. To continue developing our project methodology and establish a strong track record, we are developing grant proposals for funding from international institutions, private foundations, etc. We expect that this process will take time, approximately 5-10 years from the implementation of our pilot project in 2019. We are pragmatic in this vision for growth as we understand the likelihood of having to  grow from small to medium and finally larger scale grants that would allow us to cover operational costs through the overhead allowance. For this reason we are constantly seeking and applying to relevant grants and networking opportunities. This has allowed us to begin developing the project and significantly expand our network.

Our next step towards financial sustainability will be to develop our role as a service provider by contracting our services to other organizations. Before expanding into contracting work, we will strengthen our approach and gain additional experience through our grant funded programs.

An additional future opportunity is to institutionalize this methodology into well-established art institutions, universities, etc. An example would be an annual residency program, hosted and funded by a leading museum or gallery. This can easily maintain relevance with the evolution of diverse geographic and thematic residencies. Ideally this would be co-hosted by leading universities that can provide a multi-disciplinary approach.

With greater operational support, there will also be more potential funding for related and/ or complementary initiatives.

The Visual Voices Artist in Residence program has received funding for the implementation of the pilot project in Cyprus. This has been in the form of direct funding and in-kind support. Our principal sponsor is Allianz Kulturstiftung who has granted $33,889 to the project for 2019-20. This project has also received support from Civic Space who granted $5,650 to the project for 2019-20. Additional in kind support has been provided by RISE CoE (estimated at $5,500), the Kyoto Art Center (estimated at $1,500) in 2019, Goethe Institut Cyprus (approximately $2,000), Cyprus Ministry of Culture ($900) in 2019, Embassy of Japan in Cyprus ($280) in 2020, USA embassy in Cyprus ($15,000). Additional support for dissemination and networking at international conferences includes the Rotary World Peace Conference 2020 ($500) and Rotary Peace Symposium 2019 (estimated at $500). These funding sources do not include projects and funding sources where Visual Voices was a partner implementer. 

Visual Voices is regularly seeking funding for local and international programs. This is done through developing project grant proposals for grant funding. Currently the project is focused on small to medium sized grants, ranging from $10,000 to $250,000 USD each. Our initial goal is to have an annual budget of $150,000 to $300,000. Once this is achieved we will be able to support our core staff and program costs. From there, additional organizational growth will be sought for expanded international programs. We hope to raise this amount of money within the next two years and maintain the annual budget from then on.

As of now, our 2020 expenses are estimated at $60,000. This is expected to grow over the year depending on successful grant applications. These estimated expenses mostly reflect direct project costs and do not include the in-kind contribution of the team. The team works on a volunteer basis, giving their time as in-kind support which is estimated to include an additional $55,000.

Building and sustaining this organization is my purpose and I’m fully committed. I am driven to make the positive social change I believe in but also realize that the scale of change I desire to make requires support. I have put (and will continue to put) everything I have into this project. We’ve seen so much positivity from collaborating practitioners, tangible impact on our beneficiaries and excitement from our funders. 

The Elevate Prize is exactly what I/we need. We need help taking off so we can make the change we want to see. Considering the barriers I expect to face, the Elevate Prize will help immensely. It will also be a significant help to our beneficiaries and our capacity to develop innovative complementary actions. Financially, it would allow the team to settle into their positions, implement programs and  effectively implement the business plan. Legally, the project will benefit from having opportunities to seek advice. Culturally,  this will also give the project a boost in connecting with other international organizations and artists. Greater recognition will allow us to more effectively network and build strong relationships.

For the beneficiaries, it is also important that the network and the recognition of our work grows. This is how we will be able to widely disseminate their voice through their artworks and contribute to local, regional and international dialogue for peace advocacy.

To continue innovating, we simply need to make connections. Ideas keep coming, we would benefit from initial guidance from relevant experts.

We want to fully understand how to operate internationally with respect to the law. We also want to make sure that we are abiding by all relevant regulations and ethical legal practices. This is an area in which our team has relatively little practical experience and we would like to develop partnerships with organizations or professionals who support non-profit organizations with legal matters.

M&E is a very difficult task within this field. We want to strengthen the recognition of this field and our practices by developing methods that are practically implemented and demonstrate long term impact. Although we have the capacity to  assist with implementation, we require assistance designing the most appropriate M&E strategies.

For marketing, media and exposure, it is important for us to reach large audiences. We aim to continue developing ‘allies’ that actively take interest in sharing our work assisting organizational growth.

We seek strong partners at all levels of society including grass roots partners, national agencies, public and private institutions, international organizations and international institutions.

These include organizations in our network (pending funding), examples include: Kyoto Art Center and Freemuse. With these organizations we would like to partner for collaborative projects and the development of new initiatives.

There are also other organizations with whom we share strong interests and values. This may be organizations that focus on very specific elements of our work which would be extremely valuable for us during our continued growth as an organization. One example of this is the Better Evidence Project by George Mason University that focuses on community peacebuilding research and researchers within the field. We believe that such a collaboration would not only benefit our development but also independent research that requires cooperative and well-organized practitioners.

We also hope to partner with larger international institutions like the United Nations (UNDEF, UNHCR, UNAOC, UNESCO), EU and Rotary Foundation. These partnerships help provide large-scale reach and legitimacy within some communities.

Partnerships with universities and art institutions would be extremely beneficial to our project. One example of a university we have started engaging with is NYU through a specific department. We would like to strengthen this relationship and provide practical opportunities to their students interested in socially engaged art and peacebuilding. An art institution that we are interested in working with is Castello di Rivoli because of their engagement with special projects relevant to social issues.