Creative Pathways to Peace: Arts Education in Fragile and Divided Settings

• In Event: Scaling and Sustaining Arts and Multimedia Distance Education in Fragile Contexts

Proposal

This presentation examines how arts-based educational programs, both in fragile contexts and in public school systems globally, can foster connection, empathy, and curiosity in divided societies. Drawing on a case study of a youth arts and service-learning program in Afghanistan and findings from a cross-national study of arts education across 55 countries, I argue that the arts uniquely engage emotional, cognitive, and embodied dimensions of learning, positioning them as powerful tools for cultivating peace.

The Afghanistan case, implemented by Bond Street Theatre (2015–2016), engaged 375 youth from 25 provinces in collaborative arts activities and community service projects. Qualitative interviews and observations show that theatre-based games and collaborative arts activities were pivotal for intergroup contact across deep ethnic divides. Participants emphasized how the activities sparked curiosity, reduced defensiveness, and created pathways to empathy and mutual recognition. While the program could not alter Afghanistan’s broader conflict dynamics or the eventual return of the Taliban, it fostered micro-level spaces where trust and shared purpose could emerge, illustrating both the potential and the limitations of arts-based interventions in fragile settings.

Findings from the global study reinforce these insights at the systems level. Educators and policymakers across diverse contexts report that arts education strengthens social-emotional learning, provides safe outlets for expression, and social cohesion in diverse communities. These benefits extend beyond psychosocial support in crisis to long-term capacities for empathy and coexistence, making the arts a vital but underutilized dimension of peace education.

Together, these studies highlight three insights: (1) the arts’ unique ability to stimulate imagination and playful curiosity across all ages; (2) the need for sustainable, locally grounded models that go beyond short donor timelines; and (3) the importance of scaling arts education—whether through nonformal workshops, multimedia distance programs, or integration into formal curricula—with deliberate attention to inclusion. In a world increasingly fractured by polarization and displacement, the arts cannot end wars, but they can open spaces where connection, empathy, and playful imagination can flourish. These spaces hold possibility for reshaping how people see one another and the futures they can imagine.

Author

• Heddy Lahmann, New York University