Panel on Art-based Peacebuilding Activities in Colombia at IPRA 2014
By Paola Helena Acosta Sierra & María Elisa Pinto García
During the 25th General Conference of the International
Peace Research Association – IPRA –Uniting For Peace:
Building Sustainable Peace Through Universal Values, held in
Istanbul, Turkey on August 11-15 2014, a panel about artbased peacebuilding activities in Colombia took place within
the Arts and Peace Commission. Paola Helena Acosta from
Politecnico Grancolombiano University, Maria Elisa Pinto
from Prolongar Foundation and Santo Tomas University, and
Gloria Patricia Zapata from Juan N. Corpas University,
presented three papers related to the armed conflict in
Colombia with three different art-based initiatives aiming to
overcome this conflict. The studies focused on the link
between art and peace, stressing on the opportunities but
also limitations that music and theatre entail for war-torn
contexts, and specifically, for Colombia.
Panel about art-based peacebuilding activities
in Colombia within the Arts and Peace
Commission. Pictured left to right: at the table:
Panelists Gloria Zapata, María Elisa Pinto,
Paola Helena Acosta and discussant Craig
Robertson. Photo credit: Sinthya Rubio.
The researchers studied different experiences aiming to explain complex issues related to the
Colombian armed conflict. Gloria Patricia Zapata presented the paper Can music help internally
displaced children in Colombia?; Maria Elisa Pinto presented César López and the Escopetarra: The
Power of Communication in Music-based Conflict Transformation Initiatives; and Paola Helena
Acosta presented Why Arts in Times of War? All of them stressed on the importance of carrying
out more art-based peacebuilding initiatives in Colombia, taking into account that trauma healing,
reconciliation and symbolic reparation are key for a sustainable peace in the country.
Attendees & panelists at Panel about artbased peacebuilding activities in
Colombia within the Arts and Peace
Commission. Pictured left to right: Kitche
Magak, María Elisa Pinto, Paola Helena
Acosta, Olivier Urbain and Gloria Zapata.
Photo credit: Sinthya Rubio.
The participants at the panel were very impressed by the
presentations. Olivier Urbain, director of the TODA Institute
and former convener of the Art and Peace Commission at
IPRA, stated: “I was very impressed with the high level of
academic and human qualities of the presenters, and of the
importance of the stories they told. I am now convinced that
Colombian people deserve much, much better and that the
world needs to pay attention (…) After this session it seems to
me that Colombia is such an amazing country with wonderful
people that we need many more such panels focusing on this
country.”