Kuma International is proud to announce an exciting new collaboration with RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. This collaboration brings together leading researchers and creative practitioners to explore the role of arts in advancing reconciliation and transitional justice in post-conflict societies, with a focus on the Balkans region.
Title of Project:
The Art of Remembrance and Peace: Transitional Justice and Reconciliation in Post- conflict Societies (with a focus on the Balkans region)
Aim:
This project aims to examine how arts and creative approaches can contribute to reconciliation and transitional justice in post-conflict communities, with a focus on the ethical and cultural implications of these practices.
Description:
In recent years, there has been a significant paradigm shift in transitional justice, both in theory and practice. The field has moved beyond an exclusively legalistic perspective, adopting multidimensional and multidisciplinary approaches. Among these non-conventional approaches is the use of arts in reconciliation efforts within post-conflict societies. The arts hold a unique power to creatively express the spectrum of human experiences—ranging from anguish to elation and everything in between. Beyond their intrinsic aesthetic value, the arts often serve multiple purposes, performing sociocultural, historical, religious, and ideological functions that transcend generations, cultures, and national boundaries. This project investigates how the arts and creative practices can be mobilized to advance reconciliation and transitional justice, particularly in “frozen conflict” contexts characterized by entrenched social and political divisions that span two or more generations.
Additionally, the project examines the ethical considerations at the intersection of art, war, and peace, and explores how the culture of remembrance in post-conflict societies can engage with artistic expression to foster healing and reconciliation. The geopolitical focus of this research is on the former Yugoslavia, with particular emphasis on Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo. Employing qualitative
methodologies and creative practices, including ethnography and fieldwork, the project will explore how the intersection of reconciliation and the arts manifests in post-conflict contexts within Bosnia and Herzegovina and the broader Balkans region.
Research Team:
– Prof. Hariz Halilovich (RMIT)
– Dr. Claudia Zini (Kuma International)
– Dr. Elizabeth Kath (RMIT)
– Dr. Tuba Boz (RMIT)
– Ms. Adela Kusur (PhD Candidate, RMIT)
