How is conflict understood, organized and mediated through different art forms? How does conflict affect cultural production and discourses of war and conflict? How may cultural expressions prevent, mitigate and end violent conflict? And what inspirations and responsibilities do artists have in these processes?
PRIO Centre on Culture and Violent Conflict invites you to a conversation with Aar Maanta and Cindy Horst, who will reflect on such questions. Iffit Qureshi will moderate the conversation.
Aar Maanta is a Somali-British musician whose activism, workand creativity has led him to become a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As a singer and songwriter, he has embraced a mix of styles that brings influences from rock and reggae together with traditional Somali and Arabic music. Aar Maanta's songs are written in the traditional Somali poetic form using allegory and alliteration to address issues of relevance to Somali immigrants.
Cindy Horst is a Research Director and Research Professor in Migration and Refugee Studies at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). Her research focuses on the migration-development nexus, including diaspora engagement with regions of origin and the transnational activities of refugees. She also researches how individuals can challenge the status quo and effect societal change in post-conflict settings.
Iffit Qureshi was born and brought up in Scotland and moved to Oslo in 1986 and has since been actively involved in issues regarding discrimination, immigration and integration. Her work includes Humans of Oslo - Oslofolk. The book showcases the diversity found in the city and is unique for a capital city struggling with its multicultural identity. In 2016 she won the Oslo City Art Prize. Her exhibition “The Activists” has been viewed across Norway and can today be viewed on the island of Utøya.
Art, Peace and Conflict: Conversations with Artists is a seminar series organized by the PRIO Centre on Culture and Violent Conflict. Violent conflict is constructed, understood, justified, organized and mediated through culture. In order to defuse and prevent conflicts, we need to understand how people imbue them with meaning. The seminar series aims to explore the role of art in this meaning-making process at different phases of conflict and war. The seminars consist of conversations between artists and academics, as well as the artists presenting some of their work.
