Women's experience of war and her role in peace

There are two sides of war - one that we talk about and see - the anonymous victim, the inevitability of rape, and the objective discussion of casualties, operations and death. The other side, Zainab Salbi challenges us to think about, is the side of the social fabric of a society that has been torn by destruction and fear and of the thunderous the silence of humanity. It is this latter side of war, the social humanity side, where women are actively involved in nurturing.

Founder of Women for Women, Iraq born Zainab Salbi has spent her life committed to helping women rebuild their lives and communities. Her 2010 TED Salbi talks about the way in which women experience war and the role of  women in maintaining community throughout the violence. Her talk is inspiring. She tells stories about women performing puppet shows, while bombings continue outside, to distract the children; a music teacher who keeps school open and continues to teach music throughout the war so children can continue to play their instruments; one woman after a bombing collected all the flour she could find and made bread to share with her community in case there was no ceasefire the following day. Salbi expresses how men and women interpret peace differently - as a halt to fighting or as the return of schools and jobs. Women keep life going during the destruction of war.

She advocates for the involvement of women at the peace table and demands the recognition of the role women play in re/building community throughout the violence. Her talk is powerful and evocative and reminds us of the personal side of war and to consider a dream of peace.
 

Peace and strategic arts-based practice

In 1969 I was a child living in the Republic of Ireland when the Troubles started again in Northern Ireland. My grandmother lived in Belfast at the time, and my father would drive us there to visit her. When we came to the border, we were met by heavily armed border militia and the streets of Belfast were filled with trucks. The fear was palpable.

In response to the violence, artists created murals to either commemorate events or to communicate their hope for peace. The majority of the murals which were created along Falls Road and Shankill Road in Belfast reflect either the republican or loyalist political beliefs. When looked at together, they tell a tale of hardship and violence, but also of hope. For instance, murals depicting the 1981 hunger strike during which ten people died drawing international attention, commemorate the event. The leader of the hunger strike was an IRA member called Bobby Sands, his election into parliament gained international attention before his death. In fact, the hunger strike radicalised nationalist politics, and was one of the driving forces that enabled Sinn Féin to become a mainstream political party.

So, whether to advocate for peace or engage people in the struggle for justice, murals play an important role in mediating social change. In the case of the murals in Northern Ireland, the arts were not only used in an non-violent activist way, but also as a means to build peace and heal the community. Artists can raise awareness of latent local issues - or issues that are at the forefront of everyone's mind. Another example would be the the murals painted by Diego Rivera illustrating the repressed worker. These murals reflect not only Rivera's own communist leanings but also the political upheaval of the times and raised awareness of their struggle.

I find myself reflecting on this as I am very interested in the use of arts as a tool to facilitate community healing. The murals in Northern Ireland and Mexico City, the arts, were created as a means of public pedagogy and non-violent activism raising public awareness of issues and increase understanding and sympathy of others. At other times  the arts may be used as a means towards gaining solace. In Kenya during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, song was used when a particularly violent testimony was heard. Song, in this instance, seems to have been not only therapeutic for the audience of the Commission who had just acted as witnesses by listening to stories of human rights violations, it appears to have eased the stress for the witness and the commissioners.

So in order for arts to be used in a productive way during community healing, it important for to reflect on when to use the arts, in what instance to use them (consider environment) and what artistic medium is best suited for what situation. So really, the what, the when and the how are important considerations when using the arts in peace building approaches.

Canadian Thanksgiving - Women and Ritual

A couple of weeks ago I spoke about women's role in ritual. At the time, I did so is a cursory way, and, as it is Canadian Thanksgiving, I'd like to unpack this idea a bit more. Holidays can be emotionally loaded and are wrought with ambiguous feelings. We come together in the act of thankfulness. However, these times are often filled with conflict about our relationships, reminding us of past (or current) disappointments and loss. Margaret Visser wrote in The Rituals of Dinner, "Nothing so unites us as gathering with one mind to murder someone we hate, unless it is to come together to share a meal". I imagine it was just such a traditional celebration that she was referring to!


Our daily lives are rushed now and it is more common for families to miss sitting together for a meal. Rarely do we take the time to cook - choosing rather to eat fast food or produce that is mass produced, or food that is partly prepared that we buy at the shops. We then race home to heat it up and present it as a meal. But the ritual of cooking is an art. It demands time, thought and consideration for those who are going to eat with us. As I prepare the dinner for Thanksgiving, I think immediately of this ritual as an act performed by women contributing to peace building and community healing. The woman cooking a meal to share with her community is embedded in history and a way in which women nurtured their families and their communities. Tradition is really a reflection, or a reminder, of that part of ourselves, or our community, that we admire. In fact, whenever groups of people come together, one of the essential elements to build community is the act of preparing and sharing of food.

I peel the potatoes, carefully calculating that there will be enough leftovers to give to a friend and her children who can't join us this evening. I prepare and stuff the turkey lovingly, wrapping it in cheesecloth so the breast won't burn and it will stay moist through its long slow cooking. I methodically set the dinner table in a way I've done for years - and as my mother and grandmother did - ironing the table cloth, and placing the cutlery, candles, glasses and gourds carefully in its place - the plates will be added later once the food is served. I consider the aesthetics, hoping that every sense is pleasantly stimulated. Slowly the flat is enveloped with the smells of cooking turkey, baked squash and burning candles. I've no fire to set this year but I will make up for this by lighting the room with about 30 candles to give off a warmth that is evocative of a fire. My friend is cooking dessert - made from scratch - as a contribution to the evening (also he knows I'm not a baker). Everything I do is done with a remembrance of past celebrations - some more peaceful than others.

I'm dining with my friends and my father who will turn 89 in a couple of days and I am thankful. All that I do today is a ritual to express my gratitude for having family, food and a warm place to live. So many are without all of that and those who are surrounded by family may actually spend the day trying to find ways to mediate their difficult relationships. Those without family will hopefully be surrounded by friends or, as offered by the Toronto Daily Food Bank, take part in the community ritual of sharing a meal with a new people. I see this ritual art of cooking as being one role in which women build community!

Canadian Thanksgiving                                                                        

For Genevieve Macaulay and Jeffrey Smith

Earth leans away from autumn sun

and winter chills have just begun

to colour leaves before they die.

How their brief flame delights the eye

while the green life sinks under earth

to sleep secure till spring’s rebirth!

Virgo at last is gone to bed

with Libra wheeling overhead

and Scorpio waiting in the wings

whose tail is barbed with winter’s stings.

The Hummingbirds were swift to go,

fuelled from flowers, to Mexico,

the Redtail hawks on stronger wings

fly south in search of better things.

Rising from Lake Ontario

fogs presage months of ice and snow.

Weighing these losses, there’s good reason

to mourn a melancholy season.

Yet this is not a time of dearth,

we have the kindly fruits of earth.

the grain and apples gathered in,

the hay is saved, the ripe pumpkin

is almost plump enough to bake

in pies, or jack-‘o- lanterns make.

And whether skies are bright or murky

we sacrifice the fatted turkey.

This rite began in Pilgrim days

with pious mien and psalms of praise.

The Yanks gave thanks on rigid knees

then fell on the Aborigines

in fierce and godly genocide,

Jehovah scowling at their side.

But we, of course, are not like that,

grateful to be just where we’re at.

and with a kinder, gentler creed,

give thanks for getting all we need.

And thank our stars for friends right here,

for laughter, love and country cheer,

good food, good wine and crystal skies,

and the brief glow as summer dies.

©Kildare Dobbs

 

Aesthetics

This week, I've been reading J.P. Lederach and considering his view of aesthetics and the role aesthetics play in the peacebuilding process. I use the term peacebuilding - which is really interchangeable with community healing - when talking about a process that hopefully culminates in sustainable community healing. Community healing can either take place on a local level or encompass a much larger group of people - perhaps a city or a country. David Bohm, a 20th century scientist and theorist, agrees with Lederach in advocating for a creative approach when working towards successfully restoring community after conflict. Bohm wrote that creativity is "founded on a sensitive perception that is different from our own previous knowledge." It really is about re/discovering a common ground and approaching a conflict in a new way.

The word aesthetics comes from the Greek word for "being sharp in the senses" - so a heightened awareness of our senses. I think that this sensitivity to our senses is also prevalent in the creative process as there are situational moments that emerge from this heightened awareness of our surroundings; times during which we can gain insight into patterns that restrict moving forward and we can find alternative approaches to conflict. It is within these moments that peacebuilding can begin. Successful peacebuilding is achieved by keeping the process creatively alive - Lederach calls this the moral imagination. Transcending violence and conflict requires the capacity to recognize those opportunities to use creativity to look afresh at a situation.

So what of creativity and aesthetics? We "listen in metaphors . . we talk in images" - in fact the use of metaphor is a creative act. Lederach wrote that "building adaptive and responsive processes [resulting in social change] requires a creative act, which at its core is more art than technique. . . To sustain themselves over time, processes of change need constant innovation". So peacebuilding, or sustainable community healing, requires innovation, creativity and an acute awareness of our senses as they alert us to possibility and nuances in our surroundings.

Given this discussion about the need for creativity and innovation I am thinking about the advantage of using various art forms to help mediate communication. The image above is a music workshop that served as a attempt to heal the Tamil community after the 2004 Tsunami. There was reticence and a deep fear in returning to fishing because there was distrust of "Mother Ocean".  According to those with whom I spoke in the community of Point Pedro, she had betrayed them by taking lives and their livelihood. Through music and dancing people returned to the ocean and slowly began to recover their connection to the place and to their community - they had a shared loss, it was important that they shared in the healing process of the community.