Arts and conflict transformation in Myanmar. Participatory workshops and peace education in minority areas

该项目利用学术和艺术参与式讲习班，产生关于当代缅甸冲突转化形式的新知识。为此，该项目围绕在冲突和冲突后地区工作的研究人员、艺术家和教育工作者之间的合作建立了一个网络。其目的是产生关于艺术干预如何改变冲突的知识，开发创新的教育材料，并扩大边缘化社区获得优质教育的机会。自1948年获得独立以来，缅甸经历了大量的国内冲突和武装叛乱。经过50多年的独裁统治，军方于2011年将政府移交给正式的文职政府，开始了广泛的政治和经济自由化进程。尽管2015年举行了具有里程碑意义的选举，使长期反对党全国民主联盟上台，但政治转型在很大程度上仍未完成。军方仍然控制着政府的关键部门。2017年若开邦的罗兴亚危机和2018年克钦邦的镇压事件都提醒人们，该国面临的挑战及其看似棘手的性质。建设和平仍然是一项艰巨的任务。在福利和经济发展等其他关键领域取得进展取决于应对这一挑战。在缅甸，和解与解决冲突的努力通常是自上而下的，重点是高级别政治对话。该项目通过探索当地艺术家、民间社会和研究人员自下而上的参与性举措的潜力，对这些方法进行补充，以促进对话、和解和社会正义。因此，它在强调艺术家和研究人员之间知识的共同生产方面具有创新性，并且跨越了学科之间的界限，因为它将艺术置于传统上由社会科学主导的领域的中心。该项目侧重于缅甸东南部的四个不同地区：三个地区有着长期的武装冲突历史（克伦邦、克耶邦和孟邦），一个地区基本上是和平的（巴戈地区）。这些地区是缅甸一些最大的民族群体（克伦族，克耶邦和孟族社区）的家园，他们表现出宗教多样性（克耶邦佛教徒和基督徒平分秋色，克伦族主要是佛教徒，基督教和穆斯林少数民族，孟族主要是佛教徒和一些穆斯林少数民族）。巴戈地区的人口主要是佛教徒和佛教徒，该地区没有经历过附近领土的冲突。缅甸有一个充满活力的艺术场景，许多倡议模糊了艺术与积极的公民身份和社会反思之间的界限。通过发展艺术参与性讲习班，当地艺术家将与当地组织和国际合作伙伴共同创造知识，以扩大获得创新和优质教育的机会。此外，该国种族和宗教的复杂性以及每次冲突的具体动态将有助于项目参与者认识到当地背景和当地和解经验的重要性，作为对相当抽象的宏观层面方法的警示。该项目使Thabyay教育基金会（一个总部设在仰光的非政府组织，在向边缘化社区提供和平教育方面拥有丰富经验）与英国的PI之间建立了伙伴关系，因为他们与广泛的当地和国际研究人员，和平教育工作者和艺术家建立了网络。

This project uses academic and arts participatory workshops to generate new knowledge about forms of conflict transformation in contemporary Myanmar. To do so, the project develops a network around the collaboration between researchers, artists and education practitioners working in conflict and post-conflict regions. The purpose is to generate knowledge about how artistic interventions transform conflicts, develop innovative educational material and widen access to quality education among marginalised communities. Since attaining independence in 1948 Myanmar has experienced a high number of domestic conflicts and armed insurgencies. After more than five decades of authoritarian rule the military handed over government to a formally civilian government in 2011, which embarked on wide-ranging process of political and economic liberalisation. Despite the landmark elections of 2015, which brought to power the long-time opposition party, National League of Democracy, political transformation remains largely incomplete. The military remains in charge of key sectors of government. The 2017 Rohingya crisis in Rakhine state and the 2018 crackdown in Kachin state serve as stark reminders of the challenges the country is confronted with and their seemingly intractable nature. Building peace remains a tall order. Progress in other key areas, such as welfare and economic development, hinges on tackling that challenge. Efforts at reconciliation and conflict resolution in Myanmar have typically been top-down and have focused on high-level political dialogue. This project complements such approaches by exploring the potential of bottom-up participatory initiatives by local artists, civil society and researchers to promote dialogue, reconciliation and social justice. As such it is innovative in its emphasis on co-production of knowledge among artists and researchers and and crosses boundaries among disciplines as it places the arts at the very centre of a field traditionally dominated by the social sciences. The project focuses on four different regions of south-eastern Myanmar: three have a long history of armed conflict (Karen, Kayah and Mon states), whilst one has been largely peaceful (the Bago region). The regions are home to some of Myanmar's largest ethnic groups (the Karen, Kayah and Mon communities), they show religious diversity (Kayah state is evenly split between Buddhists and Christians, Karen is predominantly Buddhist with Christian and Muslim minorities, Mon is predominantly Buddhist with some Muslim minorities). The population in Bago region is mostly Bamar and Buddhist, and the area has not experienced the conflict of nearby territories.Myanmar has a vibrant arts scene, and many initiatives blur the lines between arts and active citizenship and social reflection. Through the development of arts participatory workshops local artists will co-produce knowledge with local organisations and international partners to widen access to innovative and quality education. Furthermore, the ethnic and religious complexity of the country and the specific dynamics of each conflict will help the project participants to appreciate the importance of local context and local experiences at reconciliation, serving as cautionary notes against rather abstract macro-level approaches. The project enables a partnership between the Thabyay Education Foundation, a Yangon-based NGO with a strong experience in providing peace education to marginalised communities and the UK-based PI as they build a network with a wide range of local and international researchers, peace educators and artists.